Interview on rules for sale of housing to young people: Where to apply for consultation and who has advantages

At the opening ceremony of the Year of Youth, the First President of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, instructed to ensure the construction of rental housing for young Kazakhstanis at affordable prices in Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent. In November 2019, the acceptance of applications is already starting in some regions. In an interview with PrimeMinister.kz, Chairman of the Committee on Youth and Family Affairs of the Ministry of Information and Social Development Madiyar Kozhakhmet spoke more about the ongoing work to provide housing for young Kazakhstanis.

— Madiyar Duisenbaiuly, how will applications be received? Where should young people apply? What documents do they need to provide for housing?

— By decision of the country's leadership in support of working youth, 3 thousand apartments will be given out annually in the next 3 years in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent. The main purpose of issuing this housing is to support working youth in order to enable them to save up for their own housing. This measure does not imply support for socially vulnerable groups. The main task is to support working youth. It was decided to formulate the main criteria for the selection of housing in five basic principles: age under 29 years old, he must work, must not have housing in his property, have a deposit account in order to make savings, and also have an income of over 100 thousand Tenge and above. The calculation here was made on the basis that housing will be issued for a period of 5 years. Within 5 years, the cost of housing will be about 10 thousand tenge, plus housing services 20 thousand tenge. We assumed that in the region of 60 thousand tenge he would spend on his needs. He will save the rest of the difference from 20 to 30 thousand tenge every month. Then within 5 years it will be able to accumulate approximately 1.8 million tenge, not counting government premiums, interest on the deposit. This amount should be enough to purchase your own home. 2 million tenge is even enough under the 7-20-25 program to buy primary own housing. From this logic, such a demand was made. After people submit documents, from November in Nur Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent housing will be distributed according to the point system. Housing is limited, most likely there will be more applicants. In order to set some selection criteria so that there is no misunderstanding, we set up a point system. If a young girl is married, then this gives her an extra point. Having children is an extra point. The more experience, the better. The longer I saved money on a deposit, the better. The presence of some achievements in work — this also gives advantages in obtaining this housing.

— Will professional specialization influence the desicion? Will there be a preference for social workers, or can everyone claim?

— Everyone can claim, but taking into account the fact that this is a support program for working youth, we have made it so that the priority 100 specialties, which together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population are approved and will have a certain priority in terms of points. Any specialty can take part, but if you are the owner of a profession that is relevant, important and for which there is now a need for personnel, then you will receive additional points.

— It turns out that housing will be provided for a period of 5 years? Regardless of how old a person will be for the period of housing?

— If at the time of filing the application he must be under 29 years old, up to 34 years the maximum period when he can live in this housing.

— If it's a family?

— In this case, the application is filed not as a family, but separately. A wife or spouse will be considered as an additional member of the family. The application will come from the one who filed it. If the husband is over 30 years old, but the wife is less and she submits documents, then we will accept them. And vice versa, respectively. It all depends on the age of the applicant. Family income can also be included in the amount of income of 100 thousand tenge.

— Will there be any assistance for civil servants?

— Civil servants, budget workers and everyone who works in this area will have one extra point.

— Does the scoring system provide for accumulation or is it considered only for the period of submission? Will there be a backup list?

— No, there will be no reserve list. A contest was held for the filing period, they submitted documents, and decided. Anyone who fails has the right to file again next year. There will not be one that has passed and will wait. Priorities will not be formed. The commission will meet only once to determine the annual list.

— So far we are talking only about three large cities. What are the prospects for spreading this experience to the regions of the republic?

— We hope that the pilot project will give its positive results. If this mechanism is justified, has a good social effect, then I think we will take the initiative to expand the list. So far, the decision has been made only within these cities. Housing is planned within 40 square meters. This will be a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, depending on how local executive bodies will acquire them. This year, taking into account the tight deadlines, part of the housing will be purchased on the market, i.e., finished. Part of the housing is being built: now the construction process, public procurement, and so on. Next year it is planned that this will be only new housing built.

— It turns out the area of housing will be standard for all 3 thousand apartments?

— Within 40 square meters depending on the region’s economy. The average cost of these apartments, for example, in Shymkent may be greater, Nur-Sultan less. Budget money is allocated from this calculation. The basic calculation goes from 40 square meters.

— Will the rent pay in these three cities be the same?

— No, each region has its own standards, rates set for the provision of rental housing. The difference will be no more than 10 thousand tenge.

— Will the applicants have any advantages depending on the deadlines? Will it all depend on the score?

— The question was, whoever filed earlier, has more right, but from our point of view, there is a certain injustice. Thus, not the most needy or not the most suitable can get this apartment. This approach is not entirely correct. Together with government agencies, we held a discussion of this order and decided that the focus would be on the point system first.

— Is responsibility for violateon of any points of residence provided for, will the family be evicted?

— There is a model agreement on the use of rental housing. In it, in addition to the basic standards (preservation of property, quality, etc.), the following standards will apply: for 5 years this person must work. He must annually confirm the fact that he works. If for some reason he quits and does not attempt to find a job, we will be forced to raise the question of eviction. In general, we do not set any radical rules on what to evict for any mistake. But if they violate such rules as does not work, does not seek work, then we will raise the question of eviction. Because after 5 years, we must release a young man with the opportunity to buy his own housing, then settle other young people.

— Among the criteria we do not see the presence of education. In our country, in addition to higher education, vocational education is actively developing. Will this be taken into account? Will priority be given to people with higher or secondary education?

— According to the law, working youth are all those who work — after school, after college, after high school. In this regard, there will be no special restrictions or advantages for those who have this or that education. The most important thing is that it works. That is, you can apply already from the age of 18, while the young man must work on an ongoing basis, with full-time employment.

— As for the quality of rental housing, who will check whether the housing meets the standards?

— Here are the standard verification mechanisms. Akimat is a developer, customer and purchaser of this property. He will conduct appropriate monitoring of compliance with the quality and effective provision of housing. In any case, public commissions, members of the Nur Otan party and any youth activists will have the full right, if they wish, to carry out public monitoring of the quality of this housing and compliance with contractual obligations so that everyone who does not meet the criteria does not randomly receive an apartment.

— How will the transparency of this process be ensured? As far as we understand, applications will be accepted by akimats. Will you, for your part, be involved in ensuring the transparency of this process?

— We have now worked on this issue at the order level so that the commissions are as open as possible with the involvement of the public. We will carefully monitor this so that representatives of youth, public organizations, and the deputies are on the composition of the commissions and, when considering these applications, can ensure the completeness of decision-making on the basis of all submitted documents and prevent corruption risks.

— Surely the mechanism for receiving applications in the three cities will be identical. Will these be online applications?

— In general, three cities have platforms through which applications will appear. They have already formed a practice for issuing rental housing for other segments of the population. By the same mechanism, the same portals will be involved. This is done in order to reduce the order, quantity of feed, etc.

— So, where can citizens apply for participation in the rental housing program for young people. Where can those not on the lists ask about the reasons for the refusal?

— In early September, we gave a short briefing with contacts. We will indicate these contacts, it will be possible to contact these phones.

For questions about providing housing for working youth, you should contact the authorized bodies: Housing Fund KSU of the Akimat of Nur-Sultan: 8 (7172) 79-34-50, 79-34-62 (63), Public Development Department of Almaty: 8 (7272) 62-27-08, Department for Family, Children and Youth Affairs of Shymkent: 8 (7252) 24-74-37.

— Thank you for the interview.

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