Reforming administrative procedures to promote social housing development
Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Real Estate Market Research - commented that social housing is a type of housing with state support for disadvantaged groups, including low-income workers.
Mr. Luong emphasized: "If the social housing market is floating according to the free market mechanism, it will lead to an imbalance between supply and demand. When prices exceed the affordability of low-income people, the nature of social housing will be lost.
Dr. Luong shared that the National Assembly has just issued Resolution No. 201/2025 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for social housing development. The Resolution allows the implementation of a number of special administrative procedures such as assigning investors and approving investment policies at the same time without organizing bidding, in order to shorten the implementation time of social housing projects.
Along with that, the Government has also issued specific guiding documents, strong decentralization - delegation of authority to localities in implementing investment procedures for social housing construction. These reform steps not only help remove "bottlenecks" in administrative procedures but also create conditions for projects to be implemented quickly and on schedule.
Publicity and transparency of social housing prices
Lawyer Chau Duy Nguyen - An Dang Law Office (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) - analyzed: "The biggest advantage of Decree 192/2025 of the Government is the regulation requiring cost audits after the project is completed. This will be the basis for comparing the selling price/purchase price and actual cost. If there is an unreasonable difference, the investor will have to return the difference to the buyer or not collect more if the actual price is higher. This is a mechanism to protect home buyers from "tricks" of taking advantage of temporary prices for profit."
Lawyer Nguyen emphasized: Workers will be guaranteed to only return the true value of the apartment, without having to worry about being hooked up by virtual costs or skyrocketing prices. Another key point in Decree 192/2025 is the regulation that investors are not allowed to collect more than 95% of the apartment value before handing over the pink book. This is a practical protection mechanism for the rights of buyers.
For social housing to truly be "social", Lawyer Chau Duy Nguyen proposed that a database of standard investment cost norms must be established, as a basis for comparing the price records established by the investor. In addition, it is also necessary to establish an independent monitoring committee to inspect and supervise the quality of social housing projects. At the same time, a network was established to monitor the distribution of social housing, avoiding the phenomenon of "selling proceeds" and the wrong subjects.
In addition, build a price ceiling for social housing associated with regional average income. This not only helps to orient the right beneficiaries but also ensures that housing prices are suitable for the actual ability to pay of workers.
