Not daring to dream of social housing
Ms. Doan Linh has been a worker at Hoa Cam Industrial Park (Cam Le District) for more than 10 years. And Ms. Linh's husband is also a worker in Hoa Khanh Industrial Park (Lien Chieu District). Therefore, to be close to her husband, Ms. Linh accepts to travel more than 11km per day from Lien Chieu District to her workplace.
A rental room of more than 20 square meters on Thanh Vinh 4 Street, Hoa Khanh Bac Ward, Lien Chieu District is the home of a family of 4, including Ms. Linh and her husband and two young children. With a rental price of 1.7 million VND/month, this is a significant expense for the income of a worker couple like Ms. Linh.
Confiding about "set up a career", Ms. Linh said that although she wants to have a stable house, social housing is still a distant dream for her family. Because in addition to the initial cost of buying a house, apartment operating expenses are also a big burden.
"Although their children are of school age and have a greater need for a place to study and sleep, considering the additional costs of managing and operating apartments each month when buying social housing, we are still cautious," Ms. Linh shared.
Not only Ms. Linh's family, but many other workers are also facing a similar situation. Ms. Nguyen Thi Chien - a single mother raising two young children - is living in a workers' housing area of just over 16 square meters in Da Nang City. For the past 5 years, Ms. Chien has not dared to return home for Tet because the travel cost for the mother and child is too much money compared to the small salary of workers.
Ms. Chien confided: "Buying a social housing unit is something I have never dared to think about. Currently, I just hope to have a stable job to cover my daily living and take care of my two children's education."
Efforts from the city government
Faced with the current situation of difficulties in housing for workers, Da Nang City is actively implementing solutions to increase social housing funds. At the first quarter press conference, Mr. Nguyen Ha Nam - Director of the Department of Construction of Da Nang City - affirmed that the department is promoting social housing projects, while seeking and calling for new investment.
Accordingly, the city is directly investing in the Vu Mong Nguyen apartment project phase 2 with 191 apartments. At the same time, cooperate with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to build 730 new apartments (with cultural institutions) and upgrade 184 apartments in Hoa Cam. The General Confederation of Labor is also studying the possibility of investing in 500 more apartments in this area.
Da Nang is urging to speed up the completion of 2,736 apartments in the Bau Tram project, and restart the Dai Dia Bao and An Trung 2 apartment projects with 870 apartments. In addition, the project at Hoa Hiep 4 resettlement area with 1,564 apartments is expected to start construction in October and two new apartment buildings in Cam Le with 1,955 apartments are expected to start construction at the end of 2025 or early 2026.
Not only focusing on existing projects, Da Nang also expands land funds and calls for investment in new projects. Location No. 10 Trinh Cong Son with 649 apartments approved for investment and 4 other land plots with the potential to develop about 3,000 apartments are in the process of completing procedures, expected to start construction in 2026. Another notable solution is to convert the function of a student dormitory in Hoa Khanh into 728 apartments for workers to rent.
