The demand is huge, but the supply is limited, so Binh Duong province needs to speed up the construction of social housing to retain and attract workers.
Workers are desperate for social housing
It is noted that in the past 3 years, the construction of social housing in Binh Duong has slowed down. The number of completed and accepted projects is very small, leading to the number of workers owning social housing during this period being quite small.
According to statistics from the People's Committee of Binh Duong province, from 2021 to now, only 6 social housing projects have been completed and put into use with 1,643 units. The completed projects are mainly concentrated in Thuan An city and Ben Cat city. Localities with a large concentration of workers such as Di An, Tan Uyen and Thu Dau Mot cities have had almost no completed projects in recent years. Workers in these localities are desperate to find social housing. According to the People's Committee of Binh Duong province, according to forecasts, from now until 2030, the number of workers in Binh Duong with a need to buy social housing will be about 129,212 units.
More affordable housing needed to retain and attract workers
According to the assessment, the income of workers in Binh Duong is slightly higher than that of provinces in the Central, Central Highlands and Western regions. However, the current standard of living is quite high, workers spend all their salary and have little savings. Many families of workers, even though they have worked in Binh Duong for more than 10 years, still cannot afford to buy land to build a house. In recent years, many families have considered "returning home".
In early 2024, Mr. Bui Van Bien (36 years old, from Hoa Binh, working as a tailor) brought his wife and children from Binh Duong to return to his hometown to live.
"My wife and I work in the garment industry, my wife's income is about 8 million VND/month, my technical salary is from 12-14 million VND/month. The income of both of us is about 20 million VND/month. However, the cost here is quite high. The cost of going to school for two children is about 4-6 million VND/month, the rent and electricity and water costs 4 million VND. The monthly food cost for the whole family is about 5-6 million VND. Then there are many other expenses, there is no savings, so it is difficult to buy a house. Social housing costs from 400-600 million VND/unit, but it is not available. My wife and I feel that it is not stable in the long term, so we have to return to our hometown to reduce the financial burden" - Mr. Bien shared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Luong Dinh Thuc (34 years old, from Thanh Hoa, working as a garment worker in Di An City) also said that he could not buy a house near where he works. "I have been renting for 14 years, the price of real estate is too high to buy. With an income of 7-9 million VND/month, it is difficult to save up to buy a house. We can only buy an apartment in installments for 300-500 million VND, but nowhere is this price available" - Mr. Thuc said.
Currently, the trend is that workers are returning to their hometowns, new workers are rarely coming to Binh Duong, and businesses are looking for workers. It is noted that in the last months of 2024, businesses in Binh Duong need more workers to produce orders for Tet but cannot recruit.
Mr. Tran Ngoc Luong - Director of Duc Luong Labor Supply Company Limited - said that recruiting workers is currently very difficult. "I recommend that we speed up the progress of building social housing and low-cost housing to retain and attract workers. If workers working in Binh Duong can buy social housing after 3-5 years and have a stable place to live, they will not return to their hometowns anymore" - Mr. Tran Ngoc Luong said.
