At the government session chaired by the Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, new approaches to housing policy and housing rent subsidies were considered.

“Improving the well-being of citizens is the most important goal of state policy. And it is the availability of housing for the population that is one of the priority areas in achieving this task,” Smailov said.

The Head of Government noted that the construction industry annually shows positive dynamics and growth. At the end of 2021, 17.1 million sq. m of housing was built. About 2.4 trillion tenge was invested in housing construction. At the same time, despite the growth and achievement of plans for the commissioning of housing, the availability of its purchase for ordinary citizens remains low, the number of people on the waiting list continues to grow.

As part of the implementation of the instructions of the Head of State, new approaches to housing policy were developed. A special role is assigned to Otbasy Bank, which will act as a single operator for the formation and maintenance of a queue of needy citizens, as well as the sale of preferential housing to them.

To date, citizens have been given the opportunity to invest part of their pension savings on the deposits of Otbasy Bank for the purpose of subsequent purchase of housing.

As part of the reform of legislation, mechanisms will be introduced for the sale of housing depending on income, subsidizing part of rent payments and housing construction in rural areas.

In accordance with the instruction of the Head of State, a decision was made to introduce a mechanism for subsidizing part of the rent. About 70 thousand of the most vulnerable families will be covered, which will allow them to set aside part of the funds from rent for the purchase of their own housing.

“In general, new approaches and mechanisms represent a fair, open and affordable system of state housing support, which will allow over half a million people on the waiting list to solve housing problems within 10 years,” Smailov said.

The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, together with Baiterek NMH JSC, to ensure the completion of all organizational issues and procedures for the implementation of the rental subsidy mechanism and until May 1, 2022, to start its actual implementation.

To ensure transparency, improve quality and further simplify the procedures, the ministry was entrusted until April 1, 2022, to submit to the Government a draft law on the introduction of digital technologies in the regulation of the construction industry.

“It is important to start the construction season on time. To this end, the akims of the regions must ensure the early allocation of land, the development of project documentation, the provision of the necessary infrastructure in order to significantly intensify construction work with the onset of warm weather,” Smailov said.