ASTANA – The Kazakh government will provide one million tenge (US$2,711) for health care, education, police and social sector workers to help purchase new housing, the city administration press service reported on Oct. 24.
Providing housing for public sector workers remains an urgent issue, said Astana Construction and Housing Policy Administration head Ruslan Akhmetov. More than 37,000 people work in this area, 16,850 of whom need housing. Due to low income levels, this group of public sector workers does not have the opportunity to save enough funds to purchase homes.
“Social assistance will be provided as part of the special programme. The funds will be used for the initial contribution required to obtain a mortgage loan. This initiative will reduce the number of workers in need of housing and also will help to keep qualified personnel,” he said.
Individuals on the waiting list for public housing facilities stock cannot participate in the programme.
“Employers will select applicants for this social payment. Citizens should not collect documents or submit them to the population service centre (TsON). According to our calculations, about 100 state employees will receive housing purchase certificates by the end of the year,” he added.
The city administration, in cooperation with Zhilstroysberbank, developed the social assistance rules for certain categories of citizens.
“We aim to make a database of qualified specialists working in social sectors in the capital,” said Akhmetov.
The Astana Chamber of Entrepreneurs also recently developed a register of residents who need support. Applications may be submitted at www.atameken.kz. Five social directions were identified and entrepreneurs will be able to respond to the requests. The website has a special feedback option for those who leave an application and entrepreneurs who want to provide support and assistance. The list will be publicly available to help individuals in different situations.
