In countries of the CIS some real property in the form of apartments has been distributed through the emission of vouchers. But this process has done little to enhance the popularity of the concept of private housing amongst the population. As developments in real estate depend on local circumstances and the policies of municipal and regional councils, constraints within countries can vary widely as well. Some local administrations have made rapid strides, while others have lagged behind. Delegates from the private sector at the Forum on Developing Viable Real Estate Markets in the Transition Economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, which took place under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva on 24 June 1996, mentioned a number of problems which they have encountered in the countries in transition.
Most jurisdictions limit ownership of real estate in some way.
In some countries, for instance, land concessions are granted, in others a 99-year usufruct or a user right. For some foreign investors the traditional leasehold system gives rise to two major problems. Firstly, the security of tenure is not guaranteed by such types of contracts and, secondly, the lack of a rent review framework, which has led to many huge rent increases, can turn a profitable outlet into a loss-making one overnight. Combined with the high capital investment required, this makes traditional leases difficult to consider as a sensible business proposition. To investors it is obvious that the existing Civil Codes cannot solve the myriad of legal issues that modern business gives rise to.