OREANDA-NEWS Leasing and sale of housing in installments can become a substitute for mortgages in Russia in order to maintain demand for real estate. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin called alternative mechanisms, RIA Novosti writes.

"As for other mechanisms. We are really considering the possibility of selling housing in installments, leasing issues, and some other schemes," the deputy chairman of the government said.

Khusnullin noted that permits for the construction of apartment buildings with a total volume of 150 million square meters are currently in force in Russia. Almost 100 million of them are being built using escrow accounts, the Deputy Prime Minister said. "This means that the developer either builds at his own expense, or these are budget programs," Khusnullin explained. The deputy Prime Minister added that the authorities are considering various options to reduce costs.

Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister said that preferential mortgages in Russia can be extended only in regions with low demand for housing. At the same time, Khusnullin did not specify which settlements he was talking about.