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Otbasy Bank plans to remove people from the housing waiting list if checks show they do not meet the eligibility requirements. The bank found property ownership records for 221,859 applicants, but is still analysing the results. The bank’s management board chair, Lyazzat Ibragimova, shared the findings (digitalbusiness.kz). For those waiting for a home, property ownership, family composition and income all matter.
Who could be removed from the housing waiting list
Otbasy Bank checked the records of all 1,090,782 people registered as needing housing. It found that 221,859 had owned housing within the past five years. That is roughly one in five applicants checked.
Ibragimova said the bank would first analyse the information it had received. It would then remove those who do not meet the requirements. Finding a property ownership record does not, at this stage, mean a decision to remove someone has already been made.
The issue of removal from the housing waiting list affects hundreds of thousands of Kazakhstanis. The checks should help the bank establish how many people actually need housing.
How Otbasy Bank checks applicants
Otbasy Bank has managed the register of people needing housing since May 24, 2025. Previously, local authorities maintained the waiting lists, with each region keeping separate lists by category.
The records have now been brought together in the Housing Provision Centre system. It draws data from 15 government information systems and automatically checks for property ownership. The bank’s head explained that this saves applicants from having to collect numerous certificates.
What income qualifies for rental housing
When allocating rental apartments, the system calculates a family’s total income and the amount per person. The bank launched a separate service for this in partnership with the Centre for Human Resources Development.
Ibragimova gave an example: a family of three must have a monthly income of no more than 305,106 tenge to qualify for rental housing. This amounts to no more than twice the subsistence minimum per person. The system calculates the applicable threshold automatically, without requiring income certificates.
How homes are allocated to applicants
The system considers more than 20 factors when selecting applicants for rental housing. These include the applicant’s category and family composition. Ibragimova said selection follows a single set of rules based on data.
Since October 2025, local authorities have handed over 34,098 housing units to the bank for allocation. More than 30 thousand people on the waiting list have already received rental housing or bought their own homes at preferential interest rates. The bank’s head gave no timeframe for when the waiting list would begin to shrink significantly.
Can the entire rental process be completed online?
Registration and housing allocation already take place through the orken.otbasybank.kz portal. However, after being allocated a rental apartment, applicants still need to visit their local authority to sign the agreement.
The bank has developed an option to sign the agreement online. It is now being tested with local authority staff. Ibragimova gave no date for its wider launch.
In plain English
Property ownership checks could lead to removal from the waiting list, but the bank is still analysing the results. To join the register, use the orken.otbasybank.kz portal. If you have already been allocated rental housing, bear the current procedure in mind: agreements are still signed through the local authority.
