According to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, from 2021 to present, the city has only had 10 social housing projects, of which 6 projects have been completed and 4 projects are under construction with a total of nearly 6,000 houses.
This is a modest result and poses many challenges for the city to achieve its set targets for social housing development.
Speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association said that there needs to be mechanisms and solutions suitable to the characteristics of the city's situation in order to hope for better results for the social housing program.
The most practical solution at present, according to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, is to coordinate to remove obstacles and difficulties to immediately implement social housing projects where commercial housing project investors have available land funds, especially the 20% land fund reserved for social housing development.
For example, recently, on December 4, 2024, the Department of Construction worked with 14 investors who had a 20% land fund in a commercial housing project for developing social housing, or had created a land fund in accordance with the planning to implement a social housing project, and 9/14 investors registered to implement about 40,000 social housing apartments.
But the biggest problem at present is the lack of coordination between departments, branches, districts and counties where social housing projects are located. For example, the Le Thanh - Tan Kien social housing project has been approved by the City People's Committee for investment policy at the same time as the investor's approval based on the 1/2000 scale zoning plan that has been locally adjusted and broke ground on August 29, 2024. However, after more than 3 months, the Construction Permit has not been issued because the detailed 1/500 scale plan of the project has not been approved by the Binh Chanh District People's Committee.
The reason is that Binh Chanh district still has to make a document "asking for opinions" from the Department of Planning and Architecture, and without an approved detailed plan at a scale of 1/500, the investor cannot apply for land allocation at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and cannot apply for a Construction Permit at the Department of Construction.
And at this conference, the city leaders had to direct the People's Committee of Binh Chanh district to immediately approve the detailed planning at a scale of 1/500 for the Le Thanh - Tan Kien social housing project to soon put the project into construction.
But not all projects are as favorable as that. According to information from the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, for example, the Linh Trung 2 Export Processing Zone Workers' Accommodation Project (Phase 2) invested by Thien Phat Tourism Service Production Construction Investment Joint Stock Company has been directed by the City People's Committee, but so far, it has not received support from the Linh Trung Export Processing Zone Management Board and the City's Export Processing Zone and Industrial Park Management Board (Hepza) to complete the procedures so that phase 2 can be started soon.
Therefore, the Association proposed that the City People's Committee develop a "simple and shortened" investment procedure for social housing projects so that social housing project investors can soon implement the project, as in the above-mentioned social housing projects.
At the same time, the Association recommends that the National Assembly Standing Committee consider allowing a pilot implementation of the mechanism of assigning the Department of Construction to carry out procedures for approving investment policies for social housing projects similar to projects to renovate and rebuild apartment buildings.
In addition, Mr. Le Hoang Chau said that the work of arranging enough land fund in accordance with the planning, land use plan, urban planning, and construction to develop social housing according to the city's approved housing development program and plan is a decisive condition to implement the development target of 69,700 to 93,000 social housing units in the 2021-2030 period of Ho Chi Minh City.
