Mortgage on favorable terms and construction of affordable housing — development of housing construction in Kazakhstan

The housing issue in any state is one of the main ones, because the social well-being of citizens depends entirely on the provision of housing. Kazakhstan is working on a unified model of housing development, where the main principle is to increase the affordability of housing, especially for socially sensitive segments of the population. To this end, new housing programs are being introduced in the country, which contribute to increasing the availability of housing mortgages.

In his Address to the People of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Constructive Public Dialogue — the Basis of Stability and Prosperity of Kazakh Citizens", the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed to develop a unified housing policy that would correspond to different levels of family income. Within three years, it is necessary to resolve the issue of providing housing to low-income large families in line, and citizens who do not have the income to purchase housing in their own right should be given the opportunity to live on social lease terms.

According to statistics, as of July 1, 2020, 769.8 billion tenge of investments were directed to all sources of financing for housing construction in Kazakhstan, which is 26.3% more than the same period in 2019. 6,113.3 thousand square meters of the total area of ​​residential buildings were commissioned, which is 107.3% over the same period in 2019. In total, 52,282 houses were commissioned in the republic, of which 18,996 are individual houses.

The queue increases annually by 50 thousand people, with the introduction of social housing for 20 thousand families. In this regard, the Nurly Zher program provides for the introduction of a gradation system for providing citizens with housing, depending on their capabilities and status. For example, rental housing without redemption will be provided to those on the waiting list who have no income or have an income below the subsistence level per family member (29.7 thousand tenge).

The Baqytty Otbasy program will be available to those on the waiting list with an income not exceeding 2 times the subsistence minimum for each family member (59.4 thousand tenge).

Loan housing of the local executive bodies will be sold to those on the waiting list who have income for each family member from two to 3.1 times the subsistence level (92 thousand tenge).

Citizens with incomes over 3.1 times the subsistence minimum will be able to use the tools of the programs 7-20-25, Baspana Hit, Orda from JSC IO KIK, Svoy Dom from JSC Housing Construction Savings Bank.

These approaches will ensure targeted government support and improve the efficiency of planning for housing construction.

“The determining factor will be the income of the population. For families with an income of less than one subsistence minimum per family member, rental housing will be offered without the option to purchase. Homeless families with an income of up to 2 subsistence minimums can become participants in the Bakytty Otbasy program (large and single-parent families, as well as families raising children with disabilities). People on the waiting list with an income of up to 3.1 PM per family member can apply for credit housing of akimats under the 5-20-25 program and under the 5-10-20 pilot project. For citizens with incomes over 3.1 living wages, the program 7-20-25 is available,’’ the Address says.

Further development of the housing policy to provide the population with housing is planned to be implemented through the full-fledged development and support institution Otbasy Bank, created on the basis of Housing Construction Savings Bank, where mandatory housing deductions from the wage fund will be introduced for each working citizen for the possibility of purchasing housing.

How Housing Construction Savings Bank works during pandemic?

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, Housing Construction Savings Bank is working on a special plan to prevent the spread of the disease. In particular, the delivery of masks, sanitizers and all necessary prophylactic means to all branches and regional offices of the Bank has been arranged. Workers in all departments wear masks, the frequency and intensity of disinfection has been increased. At the same time, the Bank restricted business trips of its employees, canceled personal and mass meetings, and a number of previously planned events. The main part of the working meetings has been moved online. Some of the employees work remotely, but those who are needed for the smooth operation of the Bank, observing all the necessary preventive measures, work at their workplaces in the offices.

Bank during April 2020 work was carried out to implement the possibility of providing services to the Bank's clients in an online format. The main ones are:

  • accepting applications / consents to defer payments from borrowers for a period of 90 (ninety) calendar days;
  • opening a current account, transactions with Housing Construction Savings agreement;
  • transfer of own funds from the current account in the Bank to the current account in second-tier banks.

Due to the fact that the state commission for ensuring the state of emergency decided to suspend the activities of all enterprises and organizations in the cities of Kazakhstan. Work was suspended in some branches or customer service was provided by appointment. A deferral in the amount of 6.7 billion tenge was provided under the state of emergency.

Under Nurly Zher program, 6.1 million sq. meters of housing commissioned in six months of 2020

Primarily, within the framework of the Nurly Zher program, measures of support for the provision of social housing and obtaining soft loans are aimed at solving housing issues on the waiting list.

On July 1, 2020, 529,610 citizens are next in line in akimats.

Participation in the Nurly Zher program for those on the waiting list is determined by a graduation system depending on income. Income from labor or business activities (excluding pension contributions, individual income tax and other mandatory contributions) are considered as confirmation.

Since the beginning of the implementation of the Nurly Zher State Housing Construction Program (2017-2019), a record 36.8 million square meters of housing or 330.3 thousand dwellings have been built, including:

  • for 2017 — 11.2 million sq. meters or 100.8 thousand dwellings,
  • for 2018 — 12.5 million sq. meters or 113.7 thousand dwellings,
  • for 2019 — 13.1 million sq. meters or 115.8 thousand dwellings.

According to the results of the six months of this year, 6.1 million sq. meters of housing or 52.3 thousand dwellings were commissioned.

During the period of the program implementation, it is planned to build 102.3 million sq. meters of housing by 2026. This is about 900 thousand dwellings, of which the construction (acquisition) of 152,436 apartments (76,200 apartments of rental housing without redemption and 76,236 apartments of credit housing) are provided through state investments.

In addition, within the framework of the Nurly Zher program, it is possible to purchase housing from private developers who offer at least 50% of housing at a fixed selling price per square meter: up to 260 thousand tenge in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and their suburban areas, Shymkent , Atyrau, Aktau, up to 220 thousand tenge in other regions.

For the first half of this year 3,004 apartments (171 thousand sq. m.) were commissioned within the framework of the Nurly Zher State Program for the construction of credit housing. The leading positions in the commissioning of credit housing are occupied by the city of Shymkent — 81.6 thousand square meters, the East Kazakhstan region — 19.2 thousand square meters, Almaty — 13.3 thousand square meters. The leading positions in the construction of credit housing are occupied by the cities of Almaty — 249.7 thousand square meters, Nur-Sultan — 225.5 thousand square meters, Shymkent — 154 thousand square meters.

209 low-income citizens received housing certificates under Baqytty Otbasy program

Since July 2019, a program of preferential mortgage lending Baqytty Otbasy has been launched at 2% per annum. This is an unprecedented support for low-income large families, families raising disabled children and single-parent families. The initial payment is from 10% with the possibility of using housing certificates from akimats. At the same time, the cost of housing should not exceed 15 million tenge in the years. Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Shymkent, Atyrau, Aktau and up to 10 million in other regions.

With a plan for issuing 50 billion tenge for 2019, Housing Construction Savings Bank actually issued 5,028 loans for 50 billion tenge. The plan for 2020 is 100 billion tenge. In connection with the clarification of the republican budget, the allocation of 49 billion tenge was approved. The funds were received in June 2020. On July 16 of this year, the Bank issued 1,750 loans for 17.6 billion tenge. Starting from 2020 to 2023, in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State, the annual plan for issuing at least 10 thousand applications per year, or about 100 billion tenge.

According to the akimats, today 209 low-income citizens have been issued housing certificates for obtaining a mortgage loan under the Baqytty Otbasy program (Almaty region — 88, Pavlodar — 58, Nur-Sultan — 60, Atyrau — 3).

In local budgets for the current year, akimats provided about 509 million tenge (Shymkent city — 100 million tenge, Nur-Sultan city — 50 million tenge, Almaty region — 359.2 million tenge).

Moreover, 390 billion tenge is allocated for the implementation of the pilot project 5-10-20 for the waiting list of akimats. Of these, 180 billion tenge is allocated for the construction of social credit housing by akimats and 210 billion tenge — for lending to those on the waiting list through the House Construction Savings Bank.

In addition, it provides for the possibility of akimats purchasing ready-made housing from private developers for the communal housing stock to provide housing for those on the waiting list and working youth. It also provides for state support for developers through the provision of subsidies for loans for housing construction.

Indirectly, stimulation is provided by equipping areas of mass housing development with utilities. According to statistics, 80% of the volume of housing on the market is introduced through private investment. On average, 1 tenge of public funds attracts 6 tenge of private investment.

A mechanism for subsidizing the interest rate is provided for private developers who independently borrow funds from commercial banks. The operator is the Damu Fund, which subsidizes 7% per annum for three years. At the same time, the rate on a commercial bank loan should not exceed 14% per annum. In case of receiving state support, the developer must offer at least 50% of the housing at fixed selling prices for the population:

  • up to 260 thousand tenge in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and their suburban areas, Shymkent, Atyrau, Aktau;
  • up to 220 thousand tenge in other regions.

In total, since the beginning of the implementation of this direction (June 2017), the Damu Fund has signed contracts for 118.5 billion tenge (in 2017, for 30.1 billion, in 2018 for 24.5 billion, in 2019 for 49.6 billion, in 2020 for 14.2 billion tenge), 661 thousand square meters were put into operation.

How to get housing under the 7-20-25 program?

In 2018, an unprecedented 7-20-25 mortgage program was launched, which is available to most of Kazakhstanis. Since the beginning of the implementation of the program, loans have already been issued to 20 thousand families in the amount of more than 200 billion tenge.

Citizens with incomes over 3.1 living wages participate in the 7-20-25 program. Anyone can be a participant in the mortgage program, without any restrictions on the sequence. The main criteria for participation in the 7-20-25 program are the borrower's absence of housing on the right of ownership, no outstanding mortgage loans at the time of applying to the bank for a loan, as well as the presence of a 20% down payment of the mortgage value of the acquired housing, proof of income.

According to the results of the first half of this year. within the framework of the 7-20-25 program, 9,687 applications were accepted for 115.8 billion tenge. Of these, 4,173 mortgage loans were issued in the amount of 52.6 billion tenge. Since the beginning of the implementation of the 7-20-25 program, as of July 16, 2020, 16,418 Kazakh families have found their homes. They received 194 billion tenge of loans.

The program 7-20-25 plans to issue mortgage loans to citizens of 1 trillion tenge. This will cover about 87 thousand Kazakh families.

The 7-20-25 program is a profitable mortgage program with a low interest rate on the loan — 7%. The amount of the initial payment is determined in the amount of 20% of the cost of housing (the maximum cost of housing is 25 million tenge for the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty (including suburban areas), Aktau, Atyrau, Shymkent, 20 million tenge for the city of Karaganda and 15 million tenge for other regions). The loan maturity has been increased to 25 years. The program is designed for a wide range of citizens with official income and no housing. Conditions for all are the same and no restrictions or benefits are assumed to any particular segment of the population, including the poor, single-parent families and large families. Since the principle of mortgage implies the transfer of the acquired housing to the ownership of the borrower, rental housing is not provided.

The borrower is not charged any commission for the provision and maintenance of the loan. Insurance of the collateral and the life of the borrower is not compulsory; if insurance is necessary, all costs must be borne by the bank that issues the loan.

The main advantages: the borrower can choose housing herself, no registration is required, low monthly payments, there are no conditions for the absence of housing for at least 5 years before applying, there are no queues, a low threshold for the initial payment.

At the moment, the developer of the 7-20-25 program, the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is not considering the issue of including secondary housing objects in the 7-20-25 program. At the same time, taking into account the population's requests for the purchase of secondary housing, the operator of the program 7-20-25 — JSC Kazakhstan Sustainability Fund is implementing the market mortgage program Baspana Hit, where the purchase of housing from the secondary market is credited.

Step-by-step instructions for purchasing housing under the 7-20-25 program:

Step 1. To buy a home, the borrower needs to find housing on the primary market from developers. Agree with the developer and book the apartment you like.

Step 2. It is necessary to evaluate the purchased housing through an independent appraiser and obtain an appraisal report from the appraiser.

Step 3. Next, you need to contact one of the banks participating in the 7-20-25 program, write an application for a loan and provide all the necessary documents. The bank examines all documents of the borrower for compliance with the conditions of the 7-20-25 program and approves (or does not approve) the issuance of a mortgage loan. If the mortgage is approved, the borrower receives a letter of guarantee from the bank and hands it over to the developer. By decision and agreement of the bank, the borrower makes an initial payment either to the bank or to the developer.

Step 4. Next, you need to conclude a purchase and sale agreement with the developer. The contract must be certified by a notary and registered with the State Corporation ‘’Government for Citizens’’ (Public Service Center) or through a notary (online at EGOV.KZ). The registered sales contract must be submitted to the bank.

Step 5. Next, the borrower signs at the bank: a loan agreement, a payment schedule, a pledge agreement for the acquired housing. The bank independently registers the pledge agreement for the acquired housing through electronic registration. After the state registration of the pledge agreement for the acquired housing, the bank transfers the required amount to the seller. After that, the developer hands over the keys to the housing to the borrower.

Askeri Baspana: By the end of 2020, Housing Construction Savings Bank plans to issue about 2.5 thousand loans for about 45 billion tenge.

The main criterion for the selection of participants in the Askeri Baspana Program in 2020 was the amount of savings in special accounts and deposits of military personnel who have shown loyalty to the system of housing construction savings.

For 2020, the Bank approved funding of the Program in the amount of 60 billion tenge with a monthly development of 5 million tenge. The bank tried to distribute funds as evenly and fairly as possible among the military departments in 17 regions of the country. Thus, the credit limits for each department have been determined, depending on the balances of funds in special current accounts and special deposits. Within the framework of these limits, lists of candidates for obtaining loans under the program have been formed.

The list of candidates is formed depending on the amount of savings (from a larger amount of savings to a smaller one), in the context of departments and regions from the list of recipients of housing payments who have savings as of Jan. 1, 2020, from 10% to 49% (inclusive) of the average loan amount (25 million tenge for Nur-Sultan and Almaty, 15 million tenge for other regions).

A loan application period is set for each candidate, during which he can apply to the Bank to submit a loan application. For example, if the month of April is specified for the candidate, then the candidate can submit a loan application from April 1 to May 29, 2020. At the top of the list are those who have saved 49%, and then candidates are distributed as the amount of savings decreases. The candidates on the list were sent SMS notifications to submit a loan application, indicating the time when they will need to contact the Bank within a year. This information is also posted in the personal account of Internet banking.

In 2020, 507 preliminary housing loans were issued in the amount of 11.8 billion tenge and 113 interim loans for 2.8 billion tenge. 294 applications for 6.4 billion tenge are under consideration. By the end of 2020, the Bank plans to accept applications and issue about 2.5 thousand loans for about 45 billion tenge. Over the entire period of the program since 2018, 7.2 thousand military personnel in the amount of 114.3 billion tenge received loans.

Who are housing certificates issued to?

Housing certificates to cover part of the initial payment on preferential loans are issued by akimats as social support in the form of a budget loan or social assistance in the acquisition of housing by citizens within the framework of the 7-20-25 and Nurly Zher programs.

The list of categories of recipients of housing certificates is approved by maslikhats, taking into account the specialists in demand, including in the health care, education, culture, sports and other industries, as well as categories of socially vulnerable segments of the population.

Social assistance is provided free of charge and on a non-refundable basis upon confirmation of income of no more than 2 living wages per family member.

When this threshold is exceeded, a housing certificate is issued as social support on a returnable basis in the form of a budget loan at a remuneration rate of 0.01% per annum. The amount of the housing certificate is determined in a uniform amount up to 1 million tenge for each recipient.

According to the akimats, 749 housing certificates were issued in 2019 (Almaty — 57, Mangystau — 11, Almaty — 284, Nur-Sultan — 397).

For the current year, akimats have provided about 509 million tenge in local budgets (Shymkent — 100 million tenge, Nur-Sultan — 50 million tenge, Almaty region — 359.2 million tenge). To date, 179 housing certificates have already been issued to large families (Almaty — 88, Pavlodar — 58, Nur-Sultan — 60, Atyrau — 3).

7.2 billion tenge provided for purchasing one thousand apartments for working youth

Basic requirements for working youth to obtain rental housing without the right to purchase:

  • citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the age of twenty-nine, who have mastered the educational curricula of secondary schools, organizations of technical and vocational, post-secondary, higher and postgraduate education and are engaged in labor activities;
  • confirmation of permanent registration at the place of residence in Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent for at least 2 (two) recent years (for those applying for the purchase of housing in these cities);
  • confirmation of the absence of the applicant, spouse (wife), minor children of housing on the right of ownership, rented with the right to purchase within 2 (two) years preceding the submission of the application, with the exception of residential buildings in an emergency condition that threatens to collapse (collapse).
  • confirmation of solvency in the amount determined by the rules;
  • other requirements are determined by the rules.

At the end of 2019, three thousand young professionals were provided with housing for the allocated 21.6 billion tenge.

In the 2020 budget for the purchase of one thousand apartments, 7.2 billion tenge is provided, including:

- in the city of Nur-Sultan — 2.5 billion tenge (350 apartments);

- in the city of Almaty — 2.5 billion tenge (350 apartments);

- in the city of Shymkent — 2.2 billion tenge (300 apartments).

When clarifying the budget of the year due to the current economic situation, the Ministry of Finance did not support the allocation of additional expenses in the amount of 14.4 billion tenge to provide two thousand young people. According to the akimats, the issuance of apartments is planned by the end of this year. As part of the formation of the budget for 2021-2023, a budget application for 2021 was sent to the Ministry of Finance in the amount of 21.6 billion tenge to provide three thousand youth.

E-Kurylys system will in the future become a single online platform for all subjects of the construction industry

In order to control the quality and transparency of construction processes, the E-Kurylys system is being introduced, which will allow conducting desk monitoring and automating a significant part of state functions with a decrease in the number of inspections.

To date, within the framework of approbation of this system, the work on automating the submission of monthly technical supervision reports to the GASK authorities, which is an attribute of the E-Kurylys system, has been practically completed.

In addition, a unified register of licensees is being created on the basis of e-license and will subsequently be combined with E-Kurylys. Commissioning of this system is planned by the end of 2021.

For reference: The E-Kurylys system is a single digital portal for all construction participants. With the help of an electronic digital signature, all the necessary permits and design and estimate documentation will be uploaded, and all construction participants will fill in and maintain executive technical documentation (acts, magazines, prescriptions, etc.) in the system. All data will be retained for control authorities.

This system also provides for the connection of cameras installed at construction sites, providing an overview for tracking and office monitoring of the construction progress of the facility by the bodies of the State Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Science and other regulatory bodies. In order to stimulate housing construction and attract investment in housing construction, government support measures are primarily aimed at supporting the effective demand of the population.

Unified Information System for Equity Participation in Housing Construction launched

In 2019, local executive bodies issued 123 permits to raise money from equity holders and the Guarantee Fund signed 23 agreements for the provision of guarantees.

In this year to account for equity participation agreements, the Unified Information System for Equity Participation in Housing Construction (IS KAZREESTR) was launched. The main purpose of the information system is the automated collection (input), processing, updating, storage and analysis of information in the field of state registration of accounting for shares in housing construction.

Effect:

  • centralization of accounting for equity participation agreements
  • monitoring of information on issued permits
  • elimination of the risks of illegal sale of real estate, including double sales

On the basis of the information system, local executive bodies are implementing the state service: "Issuance of an account statement for an agreement on shared participation in housing construction." Accounting of contracts is carried out by akimats at the location of an apartment building on the proposal of an authorized company.

The introduction of the information system ensured a reduction in the time for rendering public services from 6 to 3 working days. In order to improve the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of construction and housing and communal services, amendments and additions to some legislative acts have been developed. These changes imply toughening of the liability of developers carrying out construction bypassing the legislation on equity participation in housing construction.

Since October 2016, the country has a new Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Shared Participation in Housing Construction", which reflects all the rules for the participation of developers in the market for shared construction.

The attraction of funds from equity holders is organized in one of the following ways:

1) obtaining a guarantee from the Housing Construction Guarantee Fund JSC;

2) participation in a second-tier bank project;

3) attracting money from equity holders after the construction of the frame of a residential building.

Methods 2 and 3 imply obtaining permission from the akimat to attract money from equity holders. If we talk about 2020, then today (only from the beginning of the year) the Guarantee Fund has issued 18 guarantees, the akimats have issued 37 permits for attracting money from equity holders

Is it possible to repay mortgage ahead of schedule in Housing Construction Savings Bank?

According to the internal documents of House Construction Savings Bank, the penalty for early repayment of loans is 1% of the amount of early repayment of the principal debt on the loan. The penalty is charged:

  • in case of early full or partial repayment of debt on a loan with payment of the accrued interest for the actual use of the loan within 6 months from the date of the loan;
  • full early repayment of the loan within 14 calendar days from the date of conclusion of the bank loan agreement. The bank loan agreement is considered concluded from the moment the HCSBK transfers money to the borrower;
  • refinancing of an interim / preliminary housing loan with a main housing loan under another agreement on housing construction savings, transition to a housing loan under one agreement on housing construction savings;

The minimum amount for early repayment of loan obligations is 50,000 tenge.

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