Residential development in Almaty and Almaty Region: demand, plots, permits

Is there demand for new housing in Almaty

Yes, and the numbers back it up. On 1 January 2026, 2,347,924 people lived in Almaty, up 55,869 in a year. Almaty Region gained a net 33,126 people through interregional migration in 2025, almost three times as many as the city itself. A third of the country's population is under 18, and these are future buyers and tenants.

Developers are responding with volume: in January–August 2025, Almaty completed 1.75 million m², 13.6% more than a year earlier. Nationwide, 20.1 million m² was completed in 2025. Competition among large developers is fierce, so a private investor needs to look for niches the big players don't work in.

Where you can build housing in Almaty after the foothills moratorium

On 29 October 2025 the Almaty maslikhat (city council) introduced a moratorium on apartment complexes and infill construction in the foothill zone. Exceptions were made for social facilities, tourism and reconstruction. Even earlier, from 1 March 2025, the urban planning regulations limited buildings south of the Eastern Bypass, Al-Farabi Avenue, and Sain and Zhandosov streets to 3 storeys or 12 metres, and between Abay and Al-Farabi to 9 storeys. Building on slopes steeper than 15 degrees, in parks and in courtyards is also prohibited.

As a result, high-rise construction has moved to the north and west of the city: Alatau, Nauryzbay and Turksib districts. Low-rise projects and private houses have moved to the suburbs: Kaskelen, Talgar, Yesik, the highway to Konaev.

How to choose a plot for residential development

I spent about four years building turnkey houses, and in 2019 I launched my own concrete plant (Dalila Group TOO, tasbeton.kz). So I look at a plot with a builder's eye: how much it will cost to bring power, water, gas and sewerage to it, and what's in the ground underneath.

• Designated use: IZhS (private housing), apartment development, or garden plot. A house on a garden plot is hard to sell later with a mortgage
• Detailed area plan: whether a future road or a red line (planned public right-of-way) crosses the plot
• Technical conditions for power, water, gas, sewerage, and what they cost
• Seismic activity and soils: in Almaty this is a safety question, not just a matter of foundation cost
• Mudflows and flooding: in foothill villages I check the risk map and the plot's history
• Road and transport: how long the rush-hour commute to Almaty takes
• A school, kindergarten and shop nearby: families don't buy without them

What permits you need to build housing in Kazakhstan

The general sequence is: title documents for land with the right designated use, an architectural planning brief and technical conditions, a design, design review, notification of the start of construction, technical and design supervision, then acceptance and registration. Some steps are simplified for low-rise houses.

The exact list depends on the number of storeys, the use and the district, so a partner lawyer checks it for the specific plot. My part of the chain is choosing the plot, the technical side, and making sure construction doesn't stall over power capacity or access.

Selling apartments off-plan: DDU rules

If you want to collect buyers' money before the building is finished, it's only possible under a standard-form shared-participation agreement (DDU) registered with Kazreestr, the state register for shared construction. Reservations, investment agreements and "letters of intent" are outside the law. The buyer pays only by bank transfer and only after the DDU is registered.

A developer can raise buyers' money with a guarantee from the Kazakhstan Housing Company or after the building frame is up. As of March 2026 Kazreestr had 1,300 projects, 170 developers authorised to raise funds and more than 200,000 DDUs. For a small project it's usually simpler to build with your own money or a bank loan and sell the finished homes.

Example calculation: a settlement of 8 townhouses

An illustrative example with assumptions, not an offer and not data from a real project. A plot of about 0.5 hectares in an Almaty suburb for 120 million ₸. 8 townhouses of 150 m² each, 1,200 m² in total. Construction with white box finish at about 350,000 ₸ per m², i.e. 420 million ₸. Utilities, roads, fencing and design another 60 million ₸. Total 600 million ₸.

Selling at 650,000 ₸ per m² gives 780 million ₸. Before taxes and commissions about 180 million ₸ remains, a 30% return on the money invested over 18–24 months. If the sale price turns out 15% lower, profit shrinks to 63 million ₸. If construction also costs 15% more, the project breaks even. That's why I build in a margin and calculate three scenarios.

Risks of residential development: what to watch

• Regulations change: the foothills moratorium was brought in within a few months, and plots with projects lost value
• Utility connections in the suburbs can take longer and cost more than building the houses
• Almaty's seismic activity: cutting corners on the frame and foundation is unacceptable
• Land designated as a garden plot instead of IZhS gets in the way of sales and mortgages
• A foreigner can't register housing in their own name without a residence permit (VNZh), so such projects usually go through a Kazakh TOO (limited liability partnership)
• Selling shares without a registered DDU is illegal and carries liability
• Rising building material prices and the tenge exchange rate eat into the margin on a long build