The Moscow renovation program is a socially significant project of unprecedented scale

It is often said that moving is worse than a house fire, and that it also takes a lot of energy, nerves and money. A few years ago, Muscovites who moved to new houses under the renovation program also experienced a lot of stress in this regard.

It is relatively clear how to pack things and mentally prepare for the move. But in the case of a large-scale relocation project - there are more than 350 thousand apartments and about a million residents involved in the renovation program - the stress is added by a lack of understanding of the process and the need for interaction with various government departments. How to take a look at the new apartment? What kind of documents are needed and where to file them? People had a lot of questions even before the move, and even more - in the process.

Digitalization helped Moscovites to synchronize the work of interested departments and make the move simple and understandable for all program participants.

In this story we want to tell about how the Department of Information Technologies and the Department of Urban Planning Policy of the Moscow City managed to coordinate the work of independent departments on the digital platforms, what was the basis for the creation of the feedback services for step-by-step instructions for moving, what a “super service” is and how to use it.

There is a problem, there is a solution

The Moscow renovation program is a socially significant project of unprecedented scale. Several departments and organizations participate in the program at once - the Department of City Property, the Department of Urban Development Policy, the Department of Construction, the Renovation Fund, the centers of public services "My Documents", Rosreestr, prefectures and managing organizations. They all exchange dozens of documents when each participant of the program moves. Initially, departments collected all information on the progress of resettlement in separate files, sometimes on paper. It was extremely difficult and inconvenient to synchronize this information and put together a detailed picture of the process.

During the relocation, it became clear that both departments and residents lack a single source of information about the renovation program, stages and procedures for resettlement, and the necessary documents. Residents received all notifications in paper form, it was difficult to plan the move, and all documents had to be signed personally, during numerous visits to various authorities.

Obviously, something had to be changed.

If you can't fight it, lead it

The problem was not only with paperwork. During meetings with government agencies, it became clear that relocation is often perceived as a set of separate functions and services for program participants. The work on each individual service was fine-tuned, but during the interaction between departments arose difficulties and misunderstandings.

Therefore, it was necessary to determine a clear procedure for ensuring interagency interaction for specific life-situations of the program participants: information flows were described, information was automatically transferred to a single system, where all data on renovation was accumulated.

Today, all information from departments about the relocation of all participants in the renovation program is collected in a single interface of the Information and Analytical System for the Management of Urban Planning Activities (IAS UGD). This allowed the city to solve three important tasks:

To minimize the time of relocation of old houses;
To reduce the number of personal visits of residents to the authorities;
Make the move clear and not burdensome for citizens.

The exchange of information in real time has led to the creation of a single interactive dashboard, where the city administration can receive up-to-date and complete information about the progress of the program at any time. On it, with a detailed breakdown by status, you can see the number of new buildings and apartments transferred for occupancy, the number of houses to be settled, the number of citizens participating in the program and the percentage of implementation of the program per year. So, it is possible to monitor all the key indicators of the program in real time.

This is the way

Coordination “in digital” was also required in terms of interaction with residents. It is important to explain to each program participant what they need to do at each stage of resettlement. To solve this problem, we studied hundreds of real situations that citizens faced when moving at all stages of the journey, and identified a set of electronic services and services required at every step.

This is how in 2019 an interactive page “Moving under the renovation program” appeared on the mos.ru portal. It contains detailed instructions for all stages of resettlement, taking into account the life situation of a particular user, and links to electronic services that residents may need during the move.

In the future, a separate instruction grew into a full-fledged super service that accompanies a person along the entire path of resettlement. Today it contains:

General instructions available to all users of mos.ru portal even before moving
Personal instructions available to participants with a full account on mos.ru portal along the entire journey
Notifications about the stages of relocation in your personal account on mos.ru, by e-mail, by SMS and in the form of push notifications in city mobile applications.
Free online recording service for calling movers who will help to transfer things.
Service of filing an application for the elimination of construction defects
The service of making an appointment with a notary on issues related to the move

All of these services are available online at any convenient time, without visiting a relocation information center.

Super service in action

Let's find out how it works in practice. The whole move-in journey under the renovation programme can be divided into seven main stages:

Preparing to move
Inspection of the flat
Drawing up documents
Moving house
Closing an account in the old flat
Opening an account in the new flat
Registering at the place of residence

The first step is to inform people that they have been included in the renovation programme and that they are moving soon. This is where most questions arise. When is the move happening? In which house will they offer me a flat? What kind of documents are needed? How long will it take? A personal guide will help you figure this out, with detailed information about all the steps, contacts and links to all resources. The instructions are available one week before the move and throughout the move.

The personal instruction on the mos.ru portal is based on typical relocation scenarios. It is generated automatically and helps residents at all stages of the move taking into account specific life situations, such as: children and older people in the family that require a special approach in organising the move; the existence of a pledge or mortgage on the flat, the family's desire to buy an additional flat with a 10% discount.

After a few days, the resident receives a letter with a flat offer. If they are satisfied with the offer, the resident chooses a date and time for check-up.

The second step is the inspection of the flat. The information tips on the portal tell you when and how to view the new flat, and what documents are needed.

If construction defects are found in the new flat, the resident can apply online to have them corrected without going to the resettlement information centre in person. The service can be used immediately after signing the declaration of acceptance of the offered flat and also during the warranty period.

The third step is preparation of the required documents and the subsequent signing of the contract for the new flat. The preparation of documents and the reading and signing of the contract takes place at the Resettlement Information Centre, the Renovation Fund in the case of a purchase or compensation transaction, and at the notary if the owners include minor children, incompetent relatives or mortgaged property. An appointment with the notary is also available online. It is obligatory to register the signed agreement, which stipulates the transfer of the ownership rights, with the Federal Registration Service; the registration is free of charge for programme participants.

The fourth big step is the actual move. Especially for this as part of the super service, the portal has an electronic service to order free movers and a car to transport things from the old flat to the new one, at a time convenient to the resident. The service is available for a fortnight after signing the contract.

The fifth and sixth steps are to close the personal account in the old flat and open a new one. Here, participants are helped by various tips; the instructions also include detailed information on how to register at the new place of residence. Seventh - registration at the place of residence.

For the convenience of users, the service page is supplemented with links to all the city online services that may be needed at certain stages of the move. In this way, the personal presence of the person all the way is minimised, and hence the move becomes less burdensome.

Super service in numbers

Thanks to digitalization and well-built interagency cooperation, moving under the renovation program has become much easier and more understandable. But the most important thing is that we see the demand for each service:

To date, the city has sent more than 120 thousand notifications to residents of 126 houses.
Instructions for moving were used more than 154 thousand times.
The new loader call service has been used more than 70 times.

Of course, super service does not solve all relocation issues. But it helps to understand all the stages of the movement and get services that save a lot of time and effort during face-to-face visits to departments.

The digitalization of the renovation program continues. In the near future, an appointment for an apartment survey, submission of documents through personal accounts, signing an agreement for the proposed apartment option and signing an agreement, submitting an application for reimbursement of notary services, closing and opening of personal accounts and other services will be transferred online and it makes the move even easier. After the launch of all the planned services, the participant will only need to come in person to inspect the apartment once, other actions and questions can be resolved online.