Are retired civil servants and public employees entitled to social housing support policies?
Pursuant to Clause 8, Article 76 of the 2023 Housing Law, civil servants and public employees according to the provisions of the law on cadres, civil servants and public employees are beneficiaries of social housing support policies.
At the same time, according to Clause 1, Article 77 of the 2023 Housing Law, civil servants and public employees working in state agencies are given priority in purchasing, renting or leasing social housing.
Thus, retired civil servants and public employees are no longer eligible for social housing support policies according to Clause 8, Article 76 of the Housing Law 2023. However, if they are other subjects as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 77 of the 2023 Housing Law and meet specific conditions on current income and housing conditions, they can still be considered for social housing purchase.
What conditions must retirees who want to buy social housing meet?
Retired people who are subject to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 77 of the 2023 Housing Law and want to access social housing support policies and may be considered for buying social housing must meet specific conditions:
(1) Housing conditions
Pursuant to Point a, Clause 1, Article 78 of the Housing Law 2023, retirees who want to buy or rent social housing must meet one of the following conditions in the locality where there is a social housing project:
- Not having a house of his own;
- Have never bought or rented social housing;
- Have never enjoyed housing support policies in any form;
- Or have a house owned but the average area per capita is lower than the minimum housing area prescribed by the Government.
In particular, in the case of points b, c, d, dd, e and g, Clause 1, Article 45 of the Housing Law 2023 (people who have been arranged in public housing), social housing can only be bought or rented if they are no longer in public housing.
Thus, if the retiree in the above cases is still being arranged in a public housing unit, he/she is not eligible to buy a social housing unit, unless the public housing unit has been returned.
(2) Income conditions
Pursuant to Point b, Clause 1, Article 78 of the Housing Law 2023, retirees can be in the group of low-income people in urban areas (Clause 5, Article 76 of the Housing Law 2023), workers, laborers (Clause 6, Article 76 of the Housing Law 2023) and cadres, civil servants, and public employees (Clause 8, Article 76 of the Housing Law 2023), so they need to meet the income conditions according to Government regulations:
- Income not exceeding the personal income taxable income (currently 11 million VND/month/person, including family deduction).
- In other words, if the total pension and other income of retirees are below this level, they can be identified as low-income people and meet the income requirements to buy social housing.
In particular, the subjects in Clause 4, Article 76 of the Housing Law 2023, which are poor and near-poor households in urban areas, must be identified as poor or near-poor households according to the multidimensional poverty standard applied in urban areas, according to specific regulations of the Government in each period.
Thus, if the retiree lives in an urban area, no longer has a stable income or only has a very low source of income and is a poor or near-poor household as confirmed by the competent authority, they can be considered for social housing purchase.
