Recently, housing prices in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have increased sharply, making it more difficult for people, especially low-income earners, to buy a house.
Unable to buy commercial housing, low-income people have to look to buy social housing, but buying a house is not easy. Because this is a type of housing with a limited quantity, the procedures and conditions are very strict.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Vu (31 years old, from Ha Tinh) has lived and worked in Hanoi for nearly 8 years but still has to rent a house. Mr. Vu has applied many times to buy social housing in Hanoi but has not had any luck yet.
“The last time I registered for the NHS Trung Van social housing project, I did not win. More than 1,300 people participated in the lottery to buy 149 houses at a price of 19.5 million VND/m2. The number of houses was small but the number of people participating in the lottery was too large, so it was difficult to have a chance,” Mr. Vu shared.
Despite the difficulties, social housing projects are still being launched very slowly. According to the report on the implementation of the Project "Investing in the construction of at least 1 million social housing apartments for low-income earners and industrial park workers in the period 2021 - 2030" by the Ministry of Construction, from 2021 to the end of August 2024, the whole country has completed 79 projects with more than 40,600 social housing apartments.
Compared to the project target of completing 428,000 social housing units in the 2021-2025 period, the number of completed houses is much lower, reaching only nearly 9.5%.
Regarding social housing projects, the Ministry of Construction recently pointed out a series of localities with great demand for this segment, but limited investment, including Hanoi.
In the conclusion of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly issued in early October 2024 on reviewing the results of the thematic supervision of "Implementation of policies and laws on real estate market management and social housing development from 2015 to the end of 2023", this agency noted and clarified changes in the implementation of policies and laws during the supervision process; classified existing problems and limitations in policies and laws on real estate market management and social housing development.
At the same time, it is necessary to aim to develop a safe, healthy, sustainable real estate market, balance supply and demand, and diversify real estate products.
The National Assembly Standing Committee requested the Government to complete proposals and recommendations to resolve the implementation of stuck and prolonged real estate projects, and solutions to control real estate credit flows.
The Standing Committee emphasized the focus on implementing the Project "Investing in the construction of at least 1 million social housing apartments for low-income earners and industrial park workers in the period of 2021 - 2030"; simplifying procedures for purchasing, leasing, renting social housing, and simplifying procedures for the VND 120,000 billion credit package.
The National Assembly Standing Committee also proposed to urgently and thoroughly handle real estate and social housing projects facing difficulties, legal problems, and stagnation due to prolonged implementation and many changes in the law over time.
In the context of the real estate market still being difficult, the health of businesses is still weak, experts say that the current Vietnamese real estate market needs measures to quickly "absorb" new laws, and to simplify and unify procedures so that localities can easily apply them.
