An applicant for subsidised housing in Almaty turned down 11 offered flats because the neighbourhood did not suit him, the website infohub.kz reports. Azat Ashimov, director of the department at the first-home provision centre of Otbasy Bank, described the case at a conference in Astana.
According to him, applicants now have a new option — they can choose their location. "Previously citizens did not have this right: akimats distributed housing, invited people in, and if a person refused, that was the end of it. Now, if a citizen registered early and refuses housing, for example in Almaty's Nauryzbai district because he wants to live in the Medeu district, and if there are buildings under construction in that district, he can refuse housing in Nauryzbai district and be included in the allocation for Medeu district," he said.
As the department director noted, some Kazakhstanis have already taken advantage of this opportunity. "In Almaty there is a citizen who was offered housing 11 times. He has been in the housing queue from 2011 to 2026, and never (before this — editor's note) was he offered housing. But over the past two months he was offered flats and he refused, conditionally, 11 apartments: the neighbourhood did not suit him. But in the end they took housing and chose a suitable neighbourhood. That is, citizens can now choose their location," the speaker said.