At the "Vietnam Real Estate Forum 2025" (Vietnam Real Estate Forum - VREF 2025) organized by the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association on the afternoon of December 27, Ms. Pham Thi Mien - Deputy Director of VARS IRE, Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association (VARS) - said that the number of social housing projects implemented and opened for sale in urban areas is currently very modest.
Currently, the demand for social housing is very high, but the supply of this type of housing is limited. Most social housing projects are located in the suburbs, far from the center, not convenient for workers working in urban areas.
Meanwhile, the standards for purchasing social housing are still strict, the approval process is complicated and the verification of conditions, especially income, is still "stuck". Some cases of illegal transfers or resale by non-priority subjects, reduce the access opportunities for those in real need.
On the part of the people, Ms. Mien emphasized the difficulties of the people, those who have real needs but have difficulty accessing housing due to difficulties in accessing loans; high interest rates and short loan terms. The actual purchase price of social housing is still beyond the affordability of many people while the rent is too high.
For investors, many businesses really want to build social housing, both to contribute to the community and to take advantage of preferential policies and meet the huge and stable housing needs of this segment. However, in places with the highest demand and purchasing power, businesses find it very difficult to do so because of complicated procedures and legal processes. Businesses are also not "keen" on doing it when the selling price and profit are controlled too low while development costs (land, construction, interest rates, etc.) are constantly increasing.
In addition, land funds in the central area are increasingly scarce and expensive, even if developed, it will not be “enough” to meet the increasing “demand” for housing of the people. If developing in land funds for social housing located in the suburbs or areas with underdeveloped infrastructure, businesses will have “difficulty” selling because it is difficult to attract buyers.
In the context of the current construction and development of social housing in Vietnam, speaking at the forum, Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh - Deputy Minister of Construction - emphasized that the most important goal in the coming time is to implement the project of 1 million social housing apartments. This is part of the social housing development strategy, helping to solve the housing shortage problem for low- and middle-income people. Nationwide, there are 644 social housing projects being implemented. Up to now, these projects have completed 57,000 apartments and are expected to continue to be strongly implemented in the coming years.
"The Ministry of Construction is focusing on implementing measures to remove obstacles for projects, and at the same time adjusting planning so that projects can be completed on schedule," Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh emphasized.
