UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 29, 2018. The Urals-based home buyers invested RUR 7.4bn in building cooperatives in 2016-2017, Bank of Russia’s Ural Administration’s press service reports.

In fact, their investments make up 47% of all the building cooperatives’ funds throughout Russia.

‘One advantage a building cooperative has over a mortgage is that you only pay slightly more for your home than you would when paying the full amount up front. Besides, you don’t need to collect all sorts of papers or prove your solvency in order to apply for this option. There are, however, some downsides to the scheme as well. Your apartment belongs to the cooperative until you have paid the full amount, which means in case the cooperative goes bust your risk losing your money. Cooperative members are jointly responsible for the business, so they will have to bear all the financial and property risks,’ says Head of Bank of Russia’s Ural Administration’s Micro-financing Market Surveillance Department Natalya Mokshina.