Land Use Rights in Kazakhstan

TYPE 1

Short-Term Lease

Temporary paid land use for up to 5 years (Article 35). Used for shorter project cycles. Foreign land users may not hold permanent land use (Article 34), so temporary paid land use is the main use right open to them.

Max term: 5 years  |  Pledge: Generally prohibited (Article 77)

TYPE 2

Long-Term Lease

Term: 5–49 years (Article 35), and at least 20 years in industrial zones. The preferred instrument for commercial and industrial development. May be alienated, and may be pledged for the term of the lease; commonly used as security for project finance in Kazakhstan. More commercially flexible than the short-term lease.

Term: 5–49 years  |  Pledge: Yes  |  Preferred for: commercial development

TYPE 3

Secondary Land Use (Sublease)

The primary land user transfers a plot or part of it for temporary use without giving up its own right (Article 38). The secondary user cannot pass the right on. The Land Code has no separate right to build or superficies. A land user may build in line with the plot's designated purpose (Article 64), and rights to a building and to the land under it are inseparable and cannot be transferred apart (Article 52).

Further transfer: No  |  Used for: industrial parks and logistics hubs

TYPE 4

Gratuitous Land Use Right

Temporary gratuitous use is available only to citizens and legal entities of Kazakhstan in the cases listed in Article 36, including public-private partnerships, and generally for up to 5 years. It may not be alienated, sublet or pledged. It is relevant to foreign investors only as a comparison, or where a Kazakhstani entity falls within a listed case.

Available to foreign investors: No — Kazakhstani citizens and legal entities only

Application

Submit to the local executive authority: entity registration documents, project description, proposed land use purpose, cadastral data for the requested plot. For competitive tender, submit bid documentation per the tender terms. In the capital and in cities and towns, the review takes up to 30 working days from receipt of the application, excluding the applicant's own steps (Article 44-2).

Local Executive Authority Decision

The land commission of the local executive authority reviews the application and gives an opinion, and the authority decides on the basis of a positive opinion and the land management project (Article 43). Which authority decides depends on the land and the region or district (Articles 13 and 16 to 18).

Registration of the Right

Once the local executive authority decision is issued, the land use right must be registered in the Real Estate Rights Register to be enforceable against third parties. Registration follows the standard procedure at the State Corporation "Government for Citizens" — see Property Registration in Kazakhstan.

Transfer and Assignment

Only temporary paid land use rights may be alienated (Article 33). A non-state land user who bought a long-term lease from the state may alienate it within the lease term without the owner's consent, on notice to the authorised body (Article 37). Rights granted by a private landowner are transferable under the terms of the underlying agreement. Transfer must be registered in the Real Estate Rights Register to be effective against third parties.

Subletting

A land use right holder may sublet the land plot to a sub-lessee on notice to the authorised body (Article 38), and a holder who bought a long-term lease from the state needs no owner's consent (Article 37). Agricultural land may not be sublet for agricultural production. The sub-lease term may not exceed the remaining term of the primary use right (Civil Code, Special Part, Art. 551(2)). Registration is required for terms of one year or more. This mechanism is frequently used in industrial park and logistics hub structures.

Mortgage Security

A registered long-term lease may be pledged as mortgage security for the term of the lease under Land Code Articles 76–80 and the Law on Mortgage of Immovable Property No. 2723. Short-term and gratuitous rights generally may not be pledged (Article 77). The mortgage is registered in the Real Estate Rights Register alongside the use right. Lenders commonly take registered long-term leases as security for project finance.

Termination & Investor Protection

A land use right may be taken without the holder's consent only on grounds prescribed by the Land Code (Articles 29 and 81). These include enforcement of debts, compulsory acquisition for state needs with compensation (Articles 84–88), failure to use a construction plot for its designated purpose within three years (Article 92), and use in breach of the law (Article 93). Non-use and misuse cases go through a court, on a claim by the state land control body and after an order to remedy the breach (Article 94). Unlawful action may be challenged before the Kazakhstan courts; compensation may be claimed. Foreign investors with applicable BIT coverage may access international arbitration for expropriation-equivalent measures.

Khorgos Eastern Gate

Logistics SEZ on the China-Kazakhstan border. Land use rights available to SEZ participants carrying out the zone's priority activities. Strong pull for Chinese investors given proximity to Chinese rail and road networks. The free customs zone procedure applies. VAT follows the general SEZ rules, because the exemption for supplies inside the zone belongs to the separate International Centre for Boundary Cooperation (Tax Code, Articles 470, 474). See Khorgos Eastern Gate SEZ.

Ontustik (South Kazakhstan)

Textile and light manufacturing SEZ near Shymkent. Land use rights for participants, with the SEZ tax preferences and the free customs zone procedure. Relevant for Turkish and Chinese textile and apparel investors entering the Kazakhstani and CIS market.

Pavlodar & Other Industrial SEZs

Chemical and petrochemical activity at Pavlodar, and metallurgy and metalworking at Saryarka in Karaganda. Land use rights available for industrial facilities. Property used for priority activities carries a zero property tax rate for the relief period of 7, 15 or 25 years, within the term of the contract and the zone (Tax Code, Article 735). Bond Stone advises on SEZ participant applications and land use right procurement for industrial investors.