The Nurly Zher program provides the most favorable conditions in the country. First, one must have the citizenship of the Republic of Kazakhstan or the status of oralman, and second, during the last five years the depositor should not have had housing. Under the terms of the program, the cost of 1 m² of rental housing is fixed and amounts to 180,000 tenge in Astana, Almaty, Atyrau and Aktau. In other regions, the price does not exceed 140,000 tenge.

Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Kairbek Uskenbayev noted that the mortgage program 7-20-25 and the program Nurly Zher complement each other. Thus, the program 7-20-25 makes it possible to afford funds for the purchase of housing. Nurly Zher is aimed at providing the population with apartments at an affordable price.

“Now all programs are aligned and complement each other. We have made changes to the program. If earlier under the Nurly Zher we only implemented housing for the contributors of the Housing Construction Bank, then this year we have the right to sell housing for the depositors of the 7-20-25 program and for depositors of the bank. Therefore, I think it will give a good additional incentive,” said the vice minister.

Uskenbayev noted that the Nurly Zher provides a mechanism for returning and re-investing in housing construction.

“Once money was invested, now this money on a returnable basis is constantly invested in the housing construction of our country. Every year, on the instructions of the Head of State, in connection with the adoption of the 7-20-25 program, the amount for connection of engineering communications was increased. If we planned 80 billion tenge annually, then from 2019 this sum was increased to 100 billion tenge,” he added.

In turn, Chairman of the Board of Housing Construction Savings Bank JSC Lyazzat Ibragimova said that there should be no other credit burden for Kazakhstanis to obtain affordable mortgages.

“Before applying to the bank for a mortgage, you will have to repay all your consumer loans, including credit cards at other banks. A very big problem is the availability of consumer loans among low-income groups of the population. There are statistics of the First Credit Bureau, that about 6 million people have consumer loans without collateral. These are loans for iPhones, home appliances and so on. Accordingly, these people need to pay off this debt in order to participate in various mortgage programs,” said the chairman of the bank.

According to Ibragimova, the bank calculates the possibilities of each depositor, and provides available tools for repaying the loan.

“Your average family income is taken, divided into each family member, income per family member is derived. We are looking to see if you can pay off this mortgage. According to the standards of all banks, after paying the mortgage, 50% of your income should remain so that you can live, take your children to school, dress them and eat accordingly. When we conducted this benchmark, we saw that we had the most loyal solvency assessment in our bank. We know that our category is first housing. Therefore, when we deduct the expenses, we take the lowest possible amounts, unlike other commercial banks,” she explained.

As Ibragimova informed, today in Kazakhstan there is a very high demand just for mortgages due to the high birth rate.

“About 420 thousand children are born in Kazakhstan, and each new child is, accordingly, a new room. We think that in the coming years there will be a lot of opportunities for the construction sector, and the opportunities that the state provides through Nurly Zher, 7-20-25, the bank system will allow getting them,” she noted.

Along with this, to encourage and support depositors, the bank pays a yearly state premium, which increases every year. According to the law, the state award is charged on savings of 200 MCI.

“Over 300 thousand people expect the state award, it will be more than 96 thousand. And in 2019, for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan, the state prize will “overstep” the amount of 100 thousand tenge. It will be 101 thousand tenge,” she said.

Ibragimova assured that now the bank is in good financial condition. The bank’s assets as of Jan. 15, 2019, for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan, crossed the border at $1 trillion, this is the entire deposit portfolio plus the bank’s own capital.

In 2019, the bank plans to credit its depositors under the Nurly Zher program for 59.7 billion tenge. Housing under the state program for clients of the bank will be implemented in all regions of the country. In 2019 according to regional akimats, it is planned to put into operation another 14,220 apartments.

In addition, Kazakhstanis can learn about all the facilities under construction under the Nurly Zher program on the site baspana.kz. On the portal, the applicant for available square meters can choose the city in which he wants to buy an apartment, and see what is being built, whether applications are received, choose an apartment he likes, apply for participation in the pool of home buyers.

It is worth noting that over the past 3 years the bank has focused on the huge automation of all business processes. Now it is possible to call a bank consultant to a house and replenish the deposit from any bank, regardless of the amount without fees.

Today, the average age of the depositor is 36 years. About 150 thousand children's deposits from 0 to 18 years was opened. According to Ibragimova, people who once used the services of the bank understand the advantages and begin to save money from the birth of a child. Every third investor is between the ages of 18 and 29 years old.