More than 12,000 people compete to buy 750 social housing apartments
According to a report by the Urban Development Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, from the beginning of 2026, Ho Chi Minh City has started construction of 2 social housing projects with a scale of 2,656 units. At the same time, one project has been completed and put into use, providing 580 units. Currently, there are 11 projects under construction, with a scale of about 9,700 units.
In the near future, it is expected that 3 more projects will start construction before March 31, with a scale of 4,600 units. Ho Chi Minh City is also expected to start construction of 41 projects before June 30, 2026, with a total scale of about 29,200 units. According to the plan, in the period 2026 - 2027, Ho Chi Minh City will complete and put into use 49 social housing projects, providing about 36,400 apartments.
Looking at the above figures, it can be seen that the social housing deployment in Ho Chi Minh City is undergoing strong changes. However, the current supply is overloaded by the excessive demand of workers. Social housing should be easier to access, but in reality it is becoming a "race" full of pressure.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), gave an example, which is the story at the Ly Thuong Kiet social housing project in Dien Hong ward, Ho Chi Minh City, after receiving a notice of registration of applications, there were more than 12,000 applications registered for about 750 apartments in the social housing fund for sale and lease.
This reflects a very large demand for social housing supply while the number of apartments allocated is very limited. According to Mr. Chau, more than half of the apartments of the above-mentioned social housing project are reserved for the armed forces (from the specific nature of the land fund). And only about 50% of the remaining apartments are allocated to other subjects. However, in this section, about 70% of the apartments are for priority groups, including those whose land is recovered by the State to implement projects.
Need to remove many barriers to increase the supply of social housing
According to the target for social housing development for localities in the 2026-2030 period, Ho Chi Minh City is the locality assigned the largest target for building this type of housing in the country, this year is 28,500 units and reaching 181,257 units in the next 4 years. In which, from 2028 to 2030 alone, the largest city in the country needs to build 38,200 units per year. Although Ho Chi Minh City has had positive changes, the number of completed and ongoing projects is still far from the actual needs of the people.
Mr. Le Hoang Chau said that one of the reasons for the sudden increase in the number of registration dossiers is that the new regulations have removed the residence criterion. This allows people from many localities to register to buy social housing in Ho Chi Minh City if they meet the conditions on income and housing. As a result, demand is concentrated in large cities, increasing pressure on a few existing projects. If a lottery is organized, it is necessary to rent a stadium to be sufficient for people in need.
Businesses believe that the social housing market is still facing many barriers. Especially the biggest headache today is that it is not really easy to access preferential credit capital.
According to the investigation of Lao Dong newspaper reporters, some businesses that are implementing social housing projects said that although they have completed legal procedures and fully meet the conditions for implementation, they face difficulties in accessing capital. Previously, when projects completed legal procedures, banks actively approached and even actively offered lending. However, from the beginning of 2026, credit was suddenly tightened, causing businesses to fall into a passive position.
Investors are not really easy to access preferential credit capital for a long time, while homebuyers have to borrow at an interest rate of about 5.4%/year, higher than the previous period and not attractive enough compared to support policies in some countries. Even the current interest rate is much higher than the above figure (about over 7%).
Some businesses have proactively extended payment schedules or supported interest rates in the early stages to accompany buyers. However, this is only a temporary solution and difficult to maintain without improvements from credit policies.
According to the results of a large-scale survey, the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Institute found that the demand for housing in the 2026-2030 period is very large. Among them, the group with demand for social housing rental and lease-purchase accounts for a significant proportion, especially in developed inner-city areas and suburban areas near industrial parks and export processing zones.
The problem is that it is necessary to change the financial approach to social housing, especially the rental segment. In Ho Chi Minh City, there are at least two groups of people in need of social housing: one is cadres, civil servants, armed forces; the other is workers and low-income urban workers. For the second group, rental demand accounts for about 80%, while current policies still focus on selling.
