Women Queue for Kazakhstan’s Umai Mortgages Amid Questions Over Affordability - The Times Of Central Asia
By Google News Personal Finance ·
Women gathered outside a branch of Kazakhstan’s Otbasy Bank in Almaty’s Zhetysu neighborhood early on November 3, hoping to secure mortgages under a program designed to help women buy homes. Some banks drew up waiting lists, which security guards used to control entry, while others argued as the crowd pressed toward the doors. The scene was captured on video and circulated on social media.
In Astana, women faced similar difficulties. Among them was Makpal, who moved to the capital in 2022 and has rented an apartment ever since. She told Kursiv that she had saved 6 million tenge ($13,300) toward buying a home, but this was insufficient for a standard Otbasy Bank mortgage, which generally requires applicants to save half the property’s value.
For women like Makpal, the Umai mortgage program offers another route into homeownership. Yet the rush for limited financing has exposed the difficulties women face in Kazakhstan’s housing market, as well as questions about whether the program’s terms adequately serve those most in need.
In 2025, women in Kazakhstan earned an average of 372,232 tenge ($830) a month, compared with 518,259 tenge ($1,153) for men, according to the National Statistics Bureau. The gender pay gap stood at 28.2%, making it particularly difficult for women to accumulate savings for a down payment or qualify for a mortgage on their own.
The Umai program, named after a protector of mothers and children in ancient Turkic mythology, was launched in 2021 by state-owned Otbasy Bank with financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Between 2021 and 2023, it helped 3,661 women purchase homes before being suspended. Applications reopened in August 2026.
Unlike the bank’s standard housing savings scheme, which generally requires borrowers to accumulate 50%…
Originally published by Google News Personal Finance
