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Housing is widely acknowledged as a human right. At the same time, it is a major driving force of the economy and often an individual’s biggest asset. The situation within the housing sector is of high significance for a society’s social and economic development and there is a need to openly recognize problems within the sector in order to develop and implement feasible policy options.
The importance of addressing problems within the housing sector for the future development of the country has become increasingly recognized by policy makers within the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation, during a speech to the State Duma in December 2003, stressed the importance of tackling the challenges within the housing sector as part of the Government’s overall strategy for economic and social development.
The Russian Federation’s request to UNECE to have a country profile carried out on its housing sector illustrates the preparedness of the Government to discuss, in depth, the current problems within its housing sector and options for improvement.
This section summarizes the main conclusions and recommendations which result from the country profile. They are presented in more detail in the respective chapters. The conclusions and recommendations aim at uniting the various aspects of a specific issue, combining its institutional, legal and financial aspects, for instance. They therefore do not necessarily follow the structure of the overall outline of the profile. It should be noted in particular that the recommendations on the legal framework have been included in the different subject areas, e.g. housing finance, existing stock. The structure of the conclusions and recommendations is as follows:
(a) Housing reform;
(b) Institutional