The President of Uzbekistan set the task for the hokims of regions, districts and cities to take measures to ensure that the cost of a square meter of housing does not exceed 4 million UZS

Yesterday, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a videoconference on measures for the development of housing construction and the mortgage market, reports “Dunyo” IA correspondent.

According to the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the need for housing increases as the population grows. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, from the very beginning of his activity as the Head of the state, focuses on this current issue and initiates measures to provide housing for the population. Programs for the construction of affordable housing in rural areas and cities were adopted by Presidential Resolutions of October 21 and November 22, 2016. Over the past four years, 140 thousand houses have been built as part of the programs. This is 4-5 times higher than the average annual values of housing construction for the previous period.

However, many families need housing. Many appeals are received from citizens on this issue. Life itself requires increasing the pace of housing construction, improving the quality of design and construction, and training qualified specialists.

The tasks in the sphere were discussed at today’s meeting.

The President noted the need for providing housing for all segments of the population and expanding opportunities for choice.

This year it is planned to provide housing for 54 thousand families. In particular, 45 thousand houses will be built under the state mortgage program.

Including, 12 thousand houses will be launched by Qishloq Qurilish Invest and Uzshahar Qurilish Invest Engineering Companies, 26.5 thousand apartments will be launched through loans allocated by the Ministry of Finance, and 8 thousand apartments will be built by private entrepreneurs. Up to 500 families in Karakalpakstan and all regions – a total of 6.5 thousand families will receive loans for the construction of individual housing. Besides, a thousand families, especially women who find themselves in a difficult life situation and are left homeless, will be provided with social housing on a rental basis.

In the context of regions, it is planned to build 2290 houses in Karakalpakstan, in Andijan region – 4665, in Bukhara region – 3220, in Jizzakh region – 1670, in Kashkadarya region – 3710, in Navoi region – 1836, in Namangan region – 4025, in Samarkand region – 4479, in Surkhandarya – 3989, in Syrdarya – 1414, in Tashkent region – 4046, in Fergana region – 4530, in Khorezm – 3016, in the city of Tashkent – 7556.

“We have not yet implemented a construction program of such volume until this day. Therefore, each hokim must work on the housing issue and have accurate calculations. The biggest issue is the fair pricing of housing. Our people are dissatisfied with the current prices”, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

In this regard, the hokims of regions, districts and cities were tasked to take measures to ensure that the cost of a square meter of housing does not exceed 4 million UZS, by establishing supplies of inexpensive building materials from the nearest manufacturers.

For example, the cost of construction can be reduced by organizing the production of aerated concrete blocks at places. Uzstandard Agency was instructed to bring the relevant standards to the manufacturers of aerated concrete blocks in each region and to certify their products.

The sources of financing for construction activities were also considered. It was noted that this year 11 trillion 500 billion UZS will be allocated within the framework of the program of providing the population with housing.

“From this year, there will be no shortage and no restrictions on financial resources for mortgage lending, if the regions provide additional proposals, they will be resolved positively”, the Head of the state noted.

It was determined that the loans will be allocated for the construction and reconstruction of individual residential buildings. They will be provided for a period of 20 years. Low-income people will be able to use subsidies to cover part of the interest. The Ministry of Finance was instructed to allocate 1.5 trillion UZS, hokims of the region – identify the number of families that will receive such support in terms of districts.

The state provides large benefits to both builders and home buyers. In particular, a six-month grace period for mortgage loans will be introduced this year. The down payment will be reduced from 20 to 15 percent in cities.

Low-income families who need better housing conditions will be paid a subsidy of 10 percent of the down payment, while buyers will only need to pay 5 percent of the down payment.

Payments on loans that exceed the rate of 12 percent in Tashkent and 10 percent in other regions will also be subsidized.

It was also announced that the benefits granted to construction companies during the pandemic will be extended until the end of this year. In particular, Entrepreneurship Support Fund will provide construction organizations with guarantees for up to 20 billion UZS on loans for housing construction, as well as interest compensation in the part exceeding the base rate of the Central Bank.

Issues of providing families in difficult living conditions with housing based on social rent were also touched upon at the meeting. It was noted that the regions will be allocated funds for the purchase of thousands of apartments for rent.

At the same time, the need was noted for further expanding this practice, including by subsidizing part of the rent or providing rooms in unused dormitories for social rent.

Responsible persons were instructed to develop an appropriate procedure and form a list of the neediest families.

“The most important issue is to create a fair system of the fair application of the provided benefits, to raise awareness of our people about them”, the President said.

In this regard, it was proposed to create public commissions with the participation of deputies of local councils, public activists. They will establish public control over the fair allocation of land to the developer, the formation of a list of needy families who are entitled to benefits, and the quality of construction. Residents of mahallas will be widely informed about the opportunities created in the sphere.

The Ministry of Finance has been instructed to create a list of citizens that are subject to subsidies based on social criteria by June 1 and automate this process. The Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications has been instructed to launch a mortgage web portal by May 1, which will provide information on lending and subsidizing procedures, the houses and developers.

The Head of the state focused on the quality of construction. It was emphasized that information about each project should be published on the mortgage web portal and be publicly available. It is necessary to provide potential home buyers with the opportunity to control the quality of construction.

The importance of attracting highly qualified specialists and financially stable contractors with a modern material-technical base, based on a rating system, to the construction of housing, was noted. The implementation of technical control over housing erected under the new order was entrusted to the territorial services of a single customer.

The heads of industries and agencies provided information on the discussed issues at the meeting.

“Dunyo” IA