Housing Affordability as a Social Problem of Russian Society: Assessment of the Population and Experts (on the Material of the City of Kazan)

Abstract

The social position of an individual in society depends on the degree of reach of individual social benefits. The presence of low accessibility to significant objects, in particular, to vital values, housing, can provoke deprivation processes. According to official data on housing affordability, on average, Russian agglomerations have a housing market characterized as a market with not very affordable housing. Against the background of the “corona crisis” of 2020, there was a decrease in housing affordability. An analysis of housing affordability based on objective indicators cannot always fully reflect the complex nature of this problem; therefore, it seems relevant to study the level of housing affordability based on subjective indicators (opinions, assessments of the population, specialists). The purpose of the work is to identify the degree of affordability of purchasing housing, the possibilities for its improvement for Kazan citizens, and to characterize the factors that have a negative impact on the possibilities of acquiring housing. Based on the author's mass survey of the population of Kazan (n=1,076), a survey of Kazan realtors (n=348) and an expert interview (n=5), it was revealed that many Kazan families are quite limited in the possibilities of acquiring new housing or improving it: the average value The coefficient of affordability for acquiring new housing ranges from 2 (acquisition of housing is seriously complicated) to 1 (acquisition of housing is practically inaccessible). Negative factors for improving the living conditions of Kazan citizens are: the high market cost of acquiring property, low incomes, income instability, the threat of job loss and unfavorable mortgage lending conditions. Single-parent families and young families with children, pensioners, the disabled, orphans, and students remain among the socially vulnerable groups of the population. In recentyears, this list has been supplemented by public sector employees. For the optimal solution of the housing issue, federal and regional authorities need to pay attention to the growth of real incomes of the population and the regulation of housing prices.