Rental, electricity and water account for nearly 1/3 of income
Mr. Doan Van Ha is from Lac Thuy district (Hoa Binh), went to Yen Nghia Industrial Park (Ha Dong, Hanoi) to work as a worker for 6 years.
3 years ago, Mr. Ha married a colleague from the same hometown, who is also a worker at a shoe manufacturing company in Yen Nghia Industrial Park. In mid-2024, Mr. Ha's wife gave birth to their first son, his mother moved in to rent a room with him to look after him.
In the afternoon of 7.5, in the hot summer sun, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mui - Mr. Ha's mother - carrying her grandson around the inn of her son's family at Group 4, La Khe Ward, Ha Dong District (Hanoi). Ms. Mui said, in the hot room, turning on the fan is not cool enough, turning on the air conditioner, she laments the electricity so she carries her out, waves the fan to help the hot help.
After work, Mr. Ha returned home with a lot of vegetables and meat. His wife works the afternoon shift to the night shift today, so he has to eat and drink early to take care of his son with his mother.
According to Mr. Ha, his family's rent is currently at 4 million VND/month. Electricity and water bills are based on State prices, so each month in the summer they cost about 1 million VND, in the winter they cost about 500,000 VND.
"The total income of my husband and I is 16 million VND/month, the rent and electricity and water account for nearly 1/3. Since having children, we have been saving almost no money to get any. Fortunately, my mother came down to look after him, and both of my paternal and maternal families often sent rice, eggs, meat, and fish down, so it helped me a bit, said Mr. Ha.
According to Mr. Ha, before giving birth, he and his wife only dared to rent a 12m2 room, priced at 1,500,000 VND/month. After giving birth, because he had to take his grandmother to look after him, he was forced to rent a house with a attic. He knows he will struggle to spend but he has no other choice.
Mr. Hoang Van Mai - a construction worker - and 2 friends rented a room in La Khe ward. The group of 3 workers from Hoang Hoa district (Thanh Hoa) only dared to choose a 14m2 room in a 5-storey building.
Mr. Mai said that a "broker" rented out this house, then divided it into small rooms for rent.
20m2 room costs 3.5 million VND/month, 14-16m2 room costs 2.3 million VND/month. We work all day, only go home to sleep at night, so it is not very important. It is a mystery in the summer, having to turn on the air conditioner from the moment I walked home until the next morning, so the electricity bill skyrocketed to 1,500,000 VND/month.
Our construction workers' salaries are about 8,500,000 - 9,000,000 VND/month, the rent alone, electricity and water costs about 1,300,000 VND per month. We are sponsored to eat lunch and dinner at a rice restaurant, usually around 50,000 VND/meal. Spending frugally, I still save about 3.5 million VND per month, said Mr. Mai.
Prices increase, landlords are forced to raise prices
Ms. Hoang Thi Nhiem - owner of many boarding houses in La Khe ward - said that her boarding houses are mainly rented to workers in Yen Nghia Industrial Park.
Ms. Nhiem has 2 5-storey houses, each with 10 rooms, the rental price ranges from 2,300,000 - 4,000,000 VND/month depending on the area. Ms. Nhiem also rented out many level 4 houses from people, renovated with guardrails, closed cleaning, the rental price ranges from 4,000,000 - 5,500,000 VND/month.
Separate level 4 apartments are often rented to households with young children, and the group of workers often rent closed rooms. In the past 3 years, rental prices have increased 3 times, equivalent to about 30%. Honestly, we do not want to increase rental prices, but the cost of renovation and the price of many items has increased, so we have to increase prices. Although rental prices are high, the rooms are almost never empty, even the renovated level 4 houses are often "deposited" by people, waiting for the old owners to move to take over", Ms. Nhiem said.
