Compacting regulations, increasing supply: Is social housing easy to buy

Increasing supply, raising the ceiling for income for social housing buyers

According to Decree No. 261/2025/ND-CP on social housing that has come into effect, the income conditions for buying social housing have been significantly expanded. In which, single people with an average income of no more than 20 million VND/month are allowed to buy social housing.

This level is 5 million VND/month higher than the old regulation (15 million VND/month). In case the single person is raising a child under 18 years old, the maximum income will be increased to 30 million VND/month.

For married people, the total income of the couple must not exceed 40 million VND/month, instead of 30 million VND/month as before.

In addition, income confirmation procedures have also been improved in a faster and more practical direction. For workers without labor contracts, the commune-level police where they are permanent or temporarily residing will be the agency that confirms income based on population data, instead of the commune-level People's Committee as before. The maximum confirmation time is within 7 working days.

Notably, the interest rate for loans to buy social housing has been reduced to 5.4%/year. Along with raising the ceiling for income for buyers, dozens of social housing projects that have just been started and opened for sale in Hanoi are opening up opportunities to access housing for low-income people, helping them soon fulfill their dream of settling down.

According to a representative of the Hanoi Department of Construction, this year, Hanoi will have 6 completed social housing projects and many new projects approved, started construction, striving to achieve the goal of building 4,670 social housing units according to the plan assigned by the Government in 2025.

The dream of settling down for tens of thousands of families is about to come true

The sharp increase in the supply of social housing since the beginning of the year is opening up opportunities for many people to buy a house "at the same time as their budget". However, due to the difference between supply and demand, the demand for buying a house while the supply is still limited makes many young people still wonder whether to buy a house or continue to rent a house for a long time.

Mr. Quang Hau (32 years old, office worker) shared: With an income of more than 18 million VND/month, after deducting expenses for gasoline, living expenses, and renting a house, I only save a few million VND per month. Many people say that if they save for 30 years, they can buy a house, but with the current house price, I don't know when I will have enough money to buy it."

Meanwhile, despite having a better income, Ms. Bui Hong Le (40 years old, freelancer, online sales in Hanoi) also said that she has not had the opportunity to access social housing. According to Ms. Le, the current social housing policy is almost not for people like her, because they do not have long-term contracts and cannot prove a stable income, even though they have to rent a house and really hope to have a house to settle down.

In fact, freelance workers can still buy social housing, but must meet income requirements and be confirmed by the police at the commune level where they are residing, temporarily residing or currently residing.

Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Do Van Thach - General Director of Dova Land said that raising the income threshold and expanding housing opportunities is the right direction in the context of continuously increasing housing prices. However, along with that, the government needs to continue to closely monitor the verification of subjects, ensuring policies to the right people with real needs.

For social housing policies to truly come into life and reach the hands of the common workers, a series of synchronous solutions are needed. First of all, it is necessary to expand the scope of policy coverage in the coming time, including taking into account the informal labor group - the force that is accounting for an increasingly large proportion in the digital economy.

"When the income barrier is removed, supply increases and procedures become more and more open, the dream of having a home for urban workers will not be far away," said Mr. Thach.