There are two kinds of lists for which individuals may seek registration "those belongings to enterprises and organizations, and those belonging to municipalities. In new towns, of which there are over one thousand in the Soviet Union, housing is primarily financed and controlled by large enterprises of one or several industries that run the city. In such company towns, housing is nominally distributed by a trade union committee and formally approved by the executive committee of the local soviet. In older towns, in capitals of republics and in large cities, municipalities sometimes own over half of all housing stock. The districts in to which a city is divided organize the municipal waiting list. .
Those who wish to apply to bypass the tyranny of the allocation process can try their luck in the housing market. The cost of a transaction is based on the going market rate, which is invariably much higher than the officially permitted price and therefore illegal. To exchange in a housing exchange, a person must have a room or an apartment registered in his or her name. It can be state-owned or part of a cooperative. Housing exchanges are found in the Bulletin for Housing Exchanges, which is published in most large cities. Every large city has a Bureau of housing Exchanges, which is an agent of the Department of Registration and Allocation of Housing Space. It has an office in every city district that accepts advertisements for housing in that local Bulletin for Housing Exchanges. .
Aside from the sublease of rooms and apartments, a second home market in letting also flourishes in the Soviet Union. Buying a summer home (dacha) is even more difficult than renting one. The market is fierce because there are so few for sale. The cheapest is a khibarka, or a little shack with a small plot, which costs about 5000 rubles.
Often times, one must be placed on a waiting list to purchase a house or a second home.
