Housing supply increases sharply
At the end of the evening shift, Ms. Lo Thi Trang (28 years old, from Si Ma Cai, Lao Cai) hurriedly returned to her rented room of less than 15m2, 3km from Tang Loong Industrial Park - where her husband and she live after working 10 hours each day. "It's okay to stay temporarily, but thinking about having children and still staying in a rented room, I feel worried" - she said.
The dream of having a stable house for her and many highland workers was once distant due to high land prices. Now, when the Lao Cai market cools down, the hope of settling down is gradually returning.
Talking to PV of Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Van Huu Thanh - Deputy Director of Lao Cai Provincial Department of Construction - said that in the first quarter of 2026, the housing market in the area recorded many positive signals. One of the notable points is the standardization of brokerage activities with 1,422 individuals being trained and granted practicing certificates. "This not only improves the quality of the brokerage team but also contributes to market transparency, limiting the situation of "inflation of prices", creating virtual fever as before" - Mr. Thanh said.
Along with that, the supply of housing is increasing sharply. Lao Cai province currently has 34 commercial housing projects with a scale of more than 7,200 products, of which nearly 2,800 units are under construction. It is expected that in the near future there will be 5 new projects, adding about 4,500 units.
Notably, social housing projects, a segment that workers are particularly interested in, priced from 500 million VND - 1 billion VND/unit, are being strongly promoted, targeting workers, low-income people and officials and employees.
According to the assessment of the Department of Construction, with this progress, by the end of 2026, housing demand in the area will basically be met, and the market will gradually shift from shortage to balance.
Maintaining local human resources
Like Ms. Trang, information about social housing projects is of interest to many workers. Mr. Nguyen Van Duc (37 years old in Mau A commune, Lao Cai province) said that after many years of saving, he hopes to be able to register to buy a small apartment, enough to "settle down and work".
At one point, I asked to buy a small plot of land for more than 1 billion VND, not including construction costs. With workers' income, it is impossible to reach. Now there are more social housing projects, my wife and I are doing procedures to register" - Mr. Duc said.
Through surveys, a large number of workers working in Bac Duyen Hai and Dong Pho Moi industrial parks are also monitoring market movements with the expectation of soon having the opportunity to own housing. Increasing supply, especially social housing, is considered the "key" to help workers escape long-term renting.
Mr. Van Huu Thanh said that when the supply is more abundant, the market will develop healthily. People with real needs will have the opportunity to access housing, instead of being "pushed out of the game" as before.
Ms. Dinh Thi Hong Lan - Deputy Head of the Trade Union of Industrial Parks of Lao Cai province - said that the stable housing needs of workers and laborers are currently very urgent, especially in industrial parks - where there are about 15,000 union members.
Most workers are still renting rooms in cramped, inconvenient conditions. The development of social housing not only helps workers feel secure and stick with businesses for a long time, but also contributes to stabilizing social security and retaining human resources for the locality," Ms. Lan emphasized.
According to Ms. Lan, in the coming time, the Trade Union organization will continue to coordinate with levels and sectors to propose accelerating the progress of social housing projects, and at the same time propose additional support mechanisms so that workers can access them more easily, such as preferential loan policies, transparent and convenient registration procedures.
Workers do not expect anything too big, just need a stable place to live to feel secure in working and raising children. When settlement is resolved, they will truly be successful in their careers" - Deputy Head of the Trade Union of Industrial Parks of Lao Cai province - shared.
