Social housing prices increase
With a unit price of VND27 million/m2, the smallest apartment (32m2) in the Thuong Thanh Social Housing Project (Rice City Long Chau) is priced at about VND864 million, while the largest apartment (77m2) is estimated at about VND2.08 billion.
Previously, the highest price ever recorded was about 25 million VND/m2 at the UDIC Ha Dinh project (Tan Trieu commune, Thanh Tri district) and 19.5 million VND/m2 at the NHS Trung Van project (Trung Van ward, Nam Tu Liem district).
Ms. Nguyen Thu Huong (30 years old, office worker, renting a room in Duc Giang ward, Long Bien) said that she and her husband have been saving for many years in the hope of buying a social housing apartment. However, when she learned that the selling price was up to 27 million VND/m2, she felt really discouraged.
The smallest house is also nearly 900 million VND, not to mention the interior cost and other arising expenses. With such a price, a young family with an average income like us can hardly access it" - Ms. Huong shared.
Mr. Bui Duy Thanh - Head of Marketing Business Department of BIC Vietnam Joint Stock Company, representative of the investor consortium - said that in fact, it has taken up to 8 years since the policy was issued until the project was granted a construction permit. The prolonged time has caused the total investment to increase significantly.
In particular, current construction costs have also increased compared to previous social housing projects. The price of materials such as steel, cement, sand, and bricks has increased sharply in the past 3 years. Labor costs have also increased due to the scarcity of construction workers, along with the increased adjustment of the minimum wage. The project's selling price must also go through an inspection process by State agencies to ensure compliance, while the 2023 Housing Law stipulates the maximum profit for social housing investors at 10%.
Reasons for increasingly high social housing prices
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam - General Director of G-Home Joint Stock Company, a company specializing in developing social housing - commented that there are currently many opinions that social housing is expensive, but it needs to be nhinited objectively. Social housing is not a subsidized house, people still have to have certain financial responsibilities when owning a large asset such as a house.
In addition, the price has been carefully appraised by the Department of Construction and the Department of Finance. Some projects are also allowed to develop 20% of commercial housing funds to compensate. Therefore, the current selling price is the lowest level that can be followed according to the mechanism.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam said that the current social housing price does not only include the cost of rough construction, but also includes technical infrastructure, utilities and standards on density, elevators, fire prevention and fighting... These factors make the costs between projects different. Investors also do not have the motivation to push prices up, because profits have been limited. In case the selling price is determined to exceed the threshold, when the auditing agency takes action, the difference will have to be refunded to the people. This is a post-inspection mechanism that is being applied very strictly.
According to Mr. Chu Van Hai - Head of the Department of Social Housing Development and Management, Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction), according to current regulations, the selling price of social housing is determined on the basis of construction investment costs plus a standard profit of 10%. This price will be appraised by a specialized agency under the Provincial People's Committee.
Mr. Hai said that social housing according to regulations is a type of apartment and is designed and built according to National Technical Regulation 04:2021/BXD and related regulations. Basically, social housing and commercial housing comply with the same system of standards, the only difference is that social housing is controlled in apartment area to reduce selling price.
