Ground-floor flats may be used for business without conversion to non-residential status, with a notification replacing permits

It has been proposed to allow ground-floor flats in apartment buildings to be used for retail and services without converting them to non-residential premises. Permits are to be replaced with a notification procedure. This is still only a proposal: no legal act has been adopted yet, and government agencies have been instructed to prepare a draft.

The proposal was made on 9 September at an extended meeting on employment and household incomes chaired by the President.

What is proposed

At present, a residential unit must be transferred to the non-residential stock before it can be used commercially. This involves a series of approvals and permits.

The proposal covers:

• Hairdressers and beauty salons
• Small shops
• Tailors
• Shoe and appliance repair workshops

According to Minister of Construction and Housing Sherzod Khidoyatov, opening a business will only require a separate entrance and adapting the interior.

Scale

According to the minister, more than 46,000 flats are located on the ground floors of apartment buildings. The new procedure could provide jobs for over 200,000 people.

What happens next

• Within a month, the responsible agencies must define the list of permitted retail and service activities and the safety requirements
• The draft is being prepared together with the Urbanisation Committee and the sanitary service
• The draft is due to be submitted within a month

What this means in practice. Until the document is adopted, the current rules apply. A business cannot yet be opened in a flat without converting it to non-residential status.

If you are planning such a project, wait for the approved list of activities and the requirements for the entrance and safety. Then check your plans against them.

Photo: Sigismund von Dobschütz, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)