From cramped boarding houses to social housing
Mr. and Mrs. Mai Xuan Thang came from Thanh Hoa to Bac Ninh to work as workers at Yen Phong Industrial Park for many years. Due to conditions, in the past, Mr. and Mrs. Thang rented a room more than 20km from the company, traveling was difficult. Not only that, the place where he used to live also had no place to send children to, so taking care of young children was very hard.
When he heard about the Cat Tuong Smart City social housing project adjacent to Yen Phong industrial park opening for sale, Mr. Thang immediately registered to buy, becoming one of the first residents of the project. Up to now (April 2026), Mr. Thang and his wife have moved to a new apartment for half a year.
“My house is near the company, so every day I save nearly 1 hour of travel time. That time I spend taking care of my family, resting, and regenerating labor,” Mr. Thang said.
Previously, he and his wife rented a room with an amount of about 4 million VND/month. With preferential loan policies for social housing and reasonable prices, the monthly installment amount is only slightly higher than the rent, so his family's living expenses are almost not affected. The psychology of settling down helps him and his wife have a plan to save and accumulate for the future.
Very happy, for the first time being the owner of the house we live in, my wife and I held an incense offering ceremony, reporting to our ancestors about it," he shared.
Similarly, Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Ha and her husband have also been working as workers at Yen Phong Industrial Park for more than 10 years. Throughout that time, she and her husband rented a rented house more than 10km from the company, remote and cramped.
3 children were born one after another, the rented room could no longer be filled, but the whole family had to accept it because they could not gather enough money to buy land plots or commercial apartments.
Fortunately, in 2023, my husband and I read newspapers and saw information about the Cat Tuong Smart City social housing project right next to the company. I completed the procedures to register to buy a house, sent it to the Bac Ninh Department of Construction and it was approved very quickly. Since then, my husband and I have been happy, both paternal and maternal grandparents are also happy and joined hands to contribute money to support us to pay off this house directly," Ms. Ha shared.
Ms. Ha's apartment is on the 6th floor of the building, 70m2 wide, has a living room, a kitchen, a balcony, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. With a price of just over 1 billion VND, Ms. Ha said that "everything is satisfactory".
“The day I packed my things to my new house, I cried because of happiness. The day I welcomed my paternal and maternal grandparents to visit, seeing the elders happy, I cried again. After more than 10 years of working as a worker, living in a rented house, my husband and I finally got to hold the key of the house in my name. If there were no social housing policy, I wouldn't dare to dream that I would have a house like this,” Ms. Ha said.
The house is also much larger than the old rented room, the couple left a vacant room "waiting" for grandparents to come to visit.
"Since we bought the house, grandparents from both sides often come to visit.The elderly are also very happy and excited," Ms. Ha added.
On the 9th floor of the same building in this social house, Ms. Le Thi Son (61 years old) came from Nghe An to help her son and daughter-in-law look after their grandchildren.Not long after leaving, Ms. Son became acquainted with almost all grandparents in the same building.
“Here, most of the children are workers, sometimes they are all friends from the same company. We share the same situation of grandma taking care of grandchildren, so we started talking very quickly. People say apartment life is in the city, but I still feel like I'm in the countryside, the neighbors are friendly and happy,” Ms. Son said.
Every day, when the children went to work, Mrs. Son often carried her grandchildren down to the apartment building's yard to play, or visited new friends' houses to chat.
There will be more social housing for workers
Apartments like those of Mr. Thang and Ms. Ha's family are gradually changing the lifestyle of workers - from "temporary living" to "settling down". But behind those specific joys, a big question is still raised: How can more and more workers reach this dream?
In Bac Ninh, one of the localities with the fastest industrial development in the country - with a scale of more than 750,000 workers, the housing problem for workers is being approached in a new direction, with the direct participation of the Trade Union organization.
The Trade Union social housing project invested by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in Viet Yen ward (Bac Ninh province) - where hundreds of thousands of workers work in industrial parks, was started in September last year, with a scale of 477 apartments.
It is expected that this year, the Trade Union social housing project in Yen Phong industrial park (Bac Ninh province) will also be started with a scale of about 700 apartments. Increasing the total number of Trade Union social housing projects nationwide to 8," Mr. Trinh Quang Minh - Deputy Head of Trade Union Project Management Board, Vietnam General Confederation of Labor told reporters of Lao Dong Newspaper.
The Trade Union social housing model is designed around the actual needs of workers. Apartments have moderate areas, rental prices suitable for income, and are also integrated with essential amenities such as kindergartens, community living areas, playgrounds, and sports. More importantly, the projects are all located near industrial parks, helping workers shorten travel time - something that people like Mr. Thang once had to trade for by hours of commuting every day. The success of the Ha Nam Trade Union social housing project (Dong Van ward, Ninh Binh province) is a clear proof of this.
Mr. Thach Van Chung - Chairman of Bac Ninh Provincial Labor Federation said that the Trade Union social housing model will help workers feel secure and attached to the locality, while increasing competitiveness and attracting investment from the province.
Mr. Dao Quang Khai, Vice Chairman of Bac Ninh Provincial People's Committee, said that Bac Ninh is the "industrial capital" of the North, attracting hundreds of thousands of workers from all over the country to live and work.
Regarding the Trade Union social housing project invested by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, Mr. Dao Quang Khai said that the project is synchronously planned with a system of cultural and sports facilities, green campuses, creating a civilized, modern, and safe living space.
The projects will contribute to realizing the dream of settling down for thousands of workers and laborers, thereby encouraging and motivating them to feel secure in their work and be attached to businesses and localities for a long time," Mr. Dao Quang Khai emphasized.
According to Mr. Phan Van Anh - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, from 2026 - 2030, the General Confederation will implement more Trade Union social housing projects in provinces and cities across the country. It is expected that by 2030, the Trade Union organization will have about 15 projects, about 10,000 apartments.
When the housing problem for workers is gradually solved with specific figures and existing projects, it is also the time when the economy has an additional solid foundation - built from the stability of workers themselves.
