Uzbekistan will not ban buying homes from developers in instalments

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan will not ban the purchase of housing in instalments directly from developers from 1 January 2027. Restrictions introduced by Presidential Resolution No. PP-294 dated 14 August 2026 apply to instalment service operators rather than direct property sales by developers, Uzbekistan's Justice Ministry said.

The ministry issued the clarification after reports appeared on social media claiming that buyers would no longer be able to purchase housing with phased payments from the beginning of 2027.

Under the resolution, the activities of instalment service operators — legal entities providing such services — will be regulated from 1 January 2027. At the same time, subparagraph “d” of paragraph 3 of the document states that real estate cannot be the subject of an instalment service provided by an operator.

The Justice Ministry explained that this provision prohibits an intermediary operator from purchasing or providing housing to a buyer as part of its own instalment service. It does not apply when a developer directly sells housing it has built to a consumer with payment made in instalments.

This also follows from subparagraph “a” of paragraph 3 of the resolution. It states that instalment services do not include cases where a seller directly sells its own goods, work or services to a consumer with payment made in stages.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan confirmed this interpretation in response to an inquiry from Gazeta. The regulator said that real estate cannot be the subject of a service provided by an instalment operator, while a developer's direct sale of its own housing with payment in instalments does not fall under the definition of such a service established by the resolution.

The Central Bank also said that investment agreements under shared-equity construction are not considered activities of instalment operators regulated by the resolution if the contractual relationship arises directly between the developer and the buyer.

The regulator separately clarified that the new requirements will not automatically apply to all sellers of goods and services. They concern organizations that provide instalment services on a significant scale and meet the established criteria.

Under subparagraph “k” of paragraph 3 of the resolution, organizations providing consumer goods credit will have to register with the Central Bank and be included in the relevant registry if their quarterly turnover from the sale of goods, works and services exceeds 500 million soums and instalment services account for at least 50% of that turnover.

Manufacturing enterprises are excluded from this requirement.

Organizations included in the registry will be subject to the requirements established for instalment service operators. However, the mere fact of selling a product does not automatically mean that these rules apply to the seller.

As an example, the Central Bank cited car sales. According to the regulator, determining whether an organization falls under the new requirements will take into account its business model, whether it provides instalment services and whether it meets the criteria established by the resolution.

Thus, Presidential Resolution No. PP-294 does not introduce a blanket ban on purchasing housing in instalments. Its provisions are aimed at regulating the activities of specialized operators that act as intermediaries in providing instalment services.