Prospects for the Development of Competition in Housing Development Sector in Conditions of Project Financing

Abstract

The introduction of project finance using escrow accounts has had a mixed effect on the industry. On the one hand, the problem of deceived equity holders was largely resolved, housing construction received stable and rhythmic financing, on the other hand, the introduction of strict restrictive measures against developers when receiving project financing led to the fact that the housing construction market «shrank». As a result, the volume of current construction has declined, and in a number of regions housing construction has stopped altogether. The main negative result of the first years of project financing was the reduction of competition. The purpose of the article was to study the factors influencing competition in housing construction in order to determine the prospects for its development. The importance of the development of competition in this construction sector was shown, the choice of the model for the analysis of factors influencing competition was justified, and its modification was carried out, which allows studying these factors in the system. It was concluded that the leading determinant that combines factors that directly and indirectly affect competition is the ‘Actions of the Government determinant’. The pros and cons of a number of recent anti-crisis decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation aimed at supporting housing construction were studied and conclusions were drawn about the prospects for the development of competition in this sector.