Akim of Almaty Yerbolat Dossayev at a meeting with residents of Medeu district listened to the appeal of homebuyer of the housing complex, which construction is frozen. The building owner does not return the money deposited, while saying that the housing is not listed for the homebuyers . Another situation that has developed due to illegal actions of building owners, which has left ordinary citizens deceived – neither invested funds nor built housing.

Equity participation in housing construction is a popular way to purchase housing in Kazakhstan, which attracts with its main advantage – a more affordable price compared to finished real estate. However, buying a home at the construction stage can turn into a problem if you do not check both the building owner and the shared-equity construction object.
Despite all the work carried out by the state to protect the rights of homebuyers, citizens wishing to purchase housing at the construction stage may face a number of problems, the root of which is a banal ignorance of their rights.

Therefore, in order to eliminate possible risks, it is important for future buyers to know the basic requirements for construction companies in the field of shared-equity construction.

Each potential homebuyer should know that bulding owners can raise their funds only after obtaining the permission of the Akimat or the guarantee of Kazakhstan Housing Company JSC(KHC JSC). This requirement is prescribed in the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On equity participation in housing construction”. At the same time, an agreement on co-investing must necessarily be concluded with the buyer in accordance with the approved standard form.

It is important to know about this fact before signing documents with the building owner, since some companies attract citizens’ funds in such illegal ways as the conclusion of booking agreements, pre-sale, investment, and so on. If such contracts have been concluded with homebuyers, then there is no guarantee of obtaining housing.

The standard form of the agreement on co-investing was approved by the order of the Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This agreement is concluded in writing and, please note, after signing, it must be registered with the local akimat through the unified information system of co-investing in housing construction “Kazreestr”. Upon registration of the agreement, a corresponding extract is provided, which is the basis for payment.

Therefore, if the buyer signs completely different documents instead of them, for example, investment or booking agreements that are considered illegal, then it is likely that he/she will be left without money and an apartment. After all, according to the law, he/she will not be considered a participant in co-investing construction and will not be able to protect his/her rights as a homebuyer. And in case of non-fulfillment by the building owner of its obligations, no one will provide buyers with housing. Also, there is a risk of double sales, when the same apartment is sold to several people at once.

To avoid such problems, in 2021 KHC JSC launched the information system “Housing Portal” (homeportal.kz), where in the section “Co-invested construction objects” any citizen can get information about all legally constructed co-invested construction objects that have the necessary permission or guarantee of KHC JSC to attract funds from homebuyers. The data on the objects come from “Kazreestr” unified information system of co-invested participation in housing construction.

In addition, the “Housing Portal” also publishes information about building owners who attract funds from homebuyers illegally, without the permission of the akimat or the guarantee of KHC JSC. This information is provided by akimats.

In 2023, a Personal Account of homebuyers was also launched on the basis of the Housing Portal, which will allow citizens to check the fact of registration of their agreements on co-investing and the availability of an appropriate statement.

Thus, the “Housing Portal” allows you to protect citizens from building owners who are engaged in illegal attraction of funds of homebuyers for housing construction.