12.03.2024

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has chaired a meeting on the construction of housing and “Yangi Uzbekiston” (the New Uzbekistan) neighborhoods this year.

New housing is being built in all regions to create decent living conditions for people. At the same time, a new lending system based on market principles was introduced four years ago to expand the population’s access to mortgages. In accordance with it, 100 trillion Uzbek soums were allocated from all sources over the past period. Due to this, 6 thousand apartment buildings were built in the regions, and 250 thousand families received new housing. 45 thousand low-income families were provided subsidies amounting to 2,4 trillion Uzbek soums for down and interest payments.

In particular, 85 thousand housing units were built throughout the country last year, 1,5 times more than in 2022. Mortgage loans worth 17 trillion Uzbek soums were allocated to the population.

Considering the population growth, construction work continues dynamically. In particular, 100,000 housing units are planned to be built as a part of the current year’s program.

Relevant measures were discussed at the meeting.

First, the cost and quality of new housing were considered, and imbalances were indicated. The responsible persons were instructed to reduce costs and improve housing construction quality. In this regard, it was determined that to increase the supply in the housing market, additional land plots for the construction of apartment buildings will be put up for auction.

The President announced new opportunities for the population and builders.

This year, 22.5 trillion Uzbek soums will be allocated to finance mortgages from all sources. Almost 10 trillion Uzbek soums will be allocated for mortgage lending, and 2,3 trillion Uzbek soums will be allocated to cover the down payment and interest for 20,000 low-income families.

500 billion Uzbek soums will be allocated to replenish the working capital of contracting organizations by issuing preferential loans for up to 18 months with an annual rate of 16 percent and a grace period of 12 months.

Banks will also participate in this process with their funds.

Additional benefits will be created for construction work and the purchase of housing by the population. In particular, contractors with a “satisfactory” rating will now be allowed to construct five-story buildings and, in the case of nine-story buildings, with a “medium-satisfactory” rating. This will allow almost 2,000 contractors to participate in construction work.

A “green” standard will be introduced in housing construction. Eligible contractors will be provided with a loan at a rate 1 percentage point lower, that is, at 15 percent per annum.

The Entrepreneurship Development Company will allocate 200 billion Uzbek soums to provide contractors with loan guarantees and partial compensation for interest costs. The validity of customs benefits for importing special equipment for housing construction will be extended for another year.

The requirement to insure mortgage housing transferred as collateral will be abolished from now on.

Families included in the program to lift themselves out of poverty and living in unsuitable housing, based on the recommendation of the “Makhalla of Seven”, will be issued mortgage loans for the construction and repair of their housing in the amount of up to 120 million Uzbek soums. Moreover, the budget will cover 15 percentage points of the loan and up to 6 points of the annual interest rate in the first five years.

The Mortgage Refinancing Company is essential in expanding the population’s mortgage access. Over the past three years, its loan portfolio has exceeded 3 trillion Uzbek soums. The company has been tasked with increasing its authorized capital to $100 million and expanding the attraction of foreign funds.

The issues of construction of the New Uzbekistan neighborhoods were also discussed at the meeting. 

Today, construction of 38 such neighborhoods has begun in the regions, and 17 more are planned for this year.

However, some regions are experiencing delays. Construction lags behind in Surkhandarya, Andijan, Tashkent, Samarkand, and Syrdarya regions.

In this regard, the instructions were given to approve the address list by area and speed up construction work. The President emphasized that the main requirements should be quality, meeting deadlines, and cost.

It was noted that some unscrupulous developers abuse the trust of buyers. Therefore, the need to strengthen the system of population protection during the housing construction on a shared basis was emphasized. Minimum requirements for the financial stability of construction and contracting organizations participating in land auctions will be established.

It was noted that dilapidated housing in some regions will be renovated, as well as modern conditions will be created for their residents.

The Deputy Prime Minister and regional khokims (‘governors’) reported on work plans for organizing construction work.