Procedural reform, interest rate reduction - unprecedented policy determination
The legal corridor for social housing has never been resolved as strongly as it is now. From July 1, 2025, Decree 192 officially takes effect, implementing Resolution 201 of the National Assembly - one of the most "special and breakthrough" policies in the field of social housing development.
Accordingly, the time for implementing investment procedures for the construction of social housing projects has been shortened from 3 years to only about 1 year, thanks to a series of measures of reduction: Abolishing bidding, exempting construction permits, appointing short bids, removing appraisal of selling prices, moving from pre-inspection to post-inspection, investors can decide on social housing selling prices instead of the Department of Construction having to approve them as before...
In parallel, the State Bank issued document No. 5312/NHNN-CSTT, announcing preferential interest rates for young people under 35 years old to borrow to buy social housing. The policy applied from July 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 clearly states the interest rate determined for the first 5 years from the time of the first disbursement, the lending interest rate is 2%/year lower than the average medium and long-term lending interest rate in VND of 4 state-owned commercial banks including: Agribank, BIDV, Vietcombank and VietinBank, the applied interest rate is 5.9%/year. In the next 10 years of borrowing capital, interest rates are determined to be 1%/year lower than the average medium and long-term lending interest rates of the 4 above-mentioned banks. This policy brings great expectations in helping young people and low-income people realize their dream of settling down.
Struggling to buy social housing
However, reality is a paradox: There is supply - there is policy - there is cheap capital, but it is not easy to buy a house.
Lao Dong Newspaper reported the story: On June 30, 2025, at the An Trung 2 social housing project (Da Nang), hundreds of people lined up all night, jostled, and pushed to submit documents. The chaos forced the authorities to intervene.
"There are only 633 apartments but the number of people coming to submit documents is several times higher. Many people came from 9pm the night before, bringing food and drinks to wait, said Mr. D.Q.T (residing in the old Son Tra district). "If it's not your turn to squeeze, then it's not your turn to squeeze."
The An Trung 2 social housing project is invested by a joint venture of Duc Manh Joint Stock Company and 579 Investment & Construction Joint Stock Company (DMC - 579). The project consists of 633 apartments, divided into two blocks: Block A has 288 apartments and Block B has 345 apartments.
The area of apartments ranges from 50-66m2, the average selling price is about 16 million VND/m2 - a price considered easy to breathe in the context of the Da Nang real estate market lacking housing suitable for average income.
In another move, the People's Committee of Da Nang has also just posted information about inviting investors interested in submitting applications to implement the Social Housing project at land plot No. 10 Trinh Cong Son. The project has nearly 650 apartments, with a total capital of 800 billion VND, to solve the housing purchase needs of beneficiaries of social housing policies according to legal regulations; in which priority is given to those who are renting houses in apartment buildings and degraded collective housing areas belonging to public assets in the city center area subject to relocation, clearance and demolition according to legal regulations.
This confirms that the supply is more abundant, but no one is sure that the jostling and pushing to buy social housing will not continue.
Another reason for the difficulty in accessing social housing is the condition of buying a house.
Not only in Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and many places, although thousands of people lined up, many people were still excluded from the list because... their income exceeded the standard.
According to Decree 100/2024/ND-CP, single people with an income of no more than 15 million VND/month, and couples with an income of no more than 30 million VND/month are considered for buying social housing. This ceiling, although raised by 4 million compared to before, still cannot keep up with urban reality.
Ms. Hong Hanh, a recruitment specialist in District 1 (HCMC), with an income of 17 million VND/month, cannot buy social housing because... "not a poor person". But this income is only enough to borrow 700 million VND, combined with support for the new family of about 1.6 billion - not enough to buy any apartment in Ho Chi Minh City.
Similarly, Mr. Tran Van Hiep (in Thu Duc) and his wife were eliminated because their combined income was 34 million VND, exceeding the prescribed threshold of 4 million VND.
"After deducting expenses, the real income is only about 30 million. Buying a social house is not possible, a commercial house is not for sale," said Mr. Hiep.
reality shows: People who are too poor do not have money to borrow, buy or are not eligible for bank funding, while people with average incomes are not considered. They fell into a polity space.
It is worth mentioning that some people with income eligibility are having difficulty because... they cannot prove their income.
For millions of freelance workers - technology drivers, traders, construction workers... - without a salary table, no labor contracts, no tax declaration, asking for confirmation of income levels is impossible.
Talking to Lao Dong, a ward leader in Hanoi said that there are a number of social housing projects in the ward that have received registration documents. Many people in need have come to the ward People's Committee to confirm low income. But up to now, the ward has not been able to resolve these confirmation requests because there is no basis to confirm them to citizens. In particular, for freelance workers, verification is even more difficult because people do not declare personal income tax and do not participate in insurance, leading to the ward having no basis for confirmation.
"There have been cases where the income was confirmed as a security guard, but because there was no labor contract, the ward could not confirm it," the officer shared.
At the Conference on Assessing the results of work in the first 6 months of the year and deploying key tasks in the last 6 months of 2025, the Ministry of Construction informed: In the field of housing and real estate market, up to now, the whole country has 692 social housing projects implemented, with a scale of 633,559 units, of which 142 project projects have been completed with a scale of 93,793 units; 139 projects have started construction with a scale of 125,714 units; 411 projects have been approved for investment with a scale of 414,052 units.
Opinions
According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association: "It is necessary to adjust income criteria according to economic zones, similar to the way of regulating regional minimum wages. In Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, the personal income of over 15 million/month to under 20 million VND/month cannot be called high. Therefore, it is advisable to raise the threshold so that people are not "too poor" but not "too rich" to access the policy.
It is necessary to expand the group of people entitled to preferential loan policies, including first-time home buyers, middle-aged people without a home, civil servants in difficult circumstances..."
Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation said: "If the income threshold is not changed, it will be difficult for social housing to be sold to the right people in need.
In the context of rapidly increasing housing prices in large cities, "locking the framework" of income criteria, applied to all areas, is no longer appropriate. The housing problem needs to be solved by a more flexible approach, closer to reality.
The solution proposed by experts is to amend Decree 100/2024/ND-CP in the direction of raising the income threshold for purchasing social housing in each urban area. At the same time, transfer income verification to post-inspection, instead of mandatory confirmation from the locality.
For workers, a roof, even though small, is a dream. But to make that dream come true, it requires flexible adjustment, listening to real life - to "exceeding the threshold of 15 million VND per month" is no longer a reason to refuse the right to settle down".
