According to Hanoi Housing Management and Development Company Limited, Kim Chung workers' housing area consists of 28 units, with a total of more than 11,000 seats, but currently has about 4,300 seats (equivalent to 435 rooms). The main reason is that many workers do not meet the rental conditions according to the provisions of Housing Law No. 27/2023/QH15.
Accordingly, the tenant must prove that he/she does not own a house, or if so, the average area is less than 15m2/person. Singles must have an income of no more than VND 15,000,000/month; if married, the total income of the couple must not exceed VND 30,000,000/month.
However, the proving procedure is very complicated. For example, Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha - a worker at Thang Long Industrial Park - could not confirm that she did not have a house because the locality where she registered for temporary residence (old Kim Chung commune) did not have enough authority to confirm the status of the house and land for people with temporary residence for less than a year. "stuck" between regulations, Ms. Ha was forced to rent a room outside with expensive costs and limited living conditions.
Another part of the problem is the quality of housing degradation. Mr. Nguyen Van An (living in CT1A building) said that the rental price here is quite cheap - only about 1.5 million VND/month, plus electricity and water, it is more than 2 million VND/month. However, living conditions are poor: elevators are often broken, walls are cracked, and the floor is peeling and cannot be repaired in time.
According to records, a 45-60m2 apartment here is only 1.5-2 million VND/month - half the rent. However, many people are still afraid of low housing quality, especially for shared dormitory-style apartments: single-beds, shared toilets, lack of privacy.
"When the wall or floor of the house cracks, I report it to the management board but it cannot be repaired, so I have to call the workers to do it themselves," Mr. An shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh - a worker at Daiwa Plastic Thang Long Company - although she really needs to save costs, after coming to see the room, she refused to rent because it was too inconvenient. Similarly, Mr. Hoang Manh Hung - a worker in Thang Long Industrial Park - also chose to rent it outside because he could not accept living conditions with peeling ceilings and broken elevators in all 4 buildings CT1A, CT1B, CT2, CT3.
A representative of the Resettlement Housing Management Department (Hanoi Housing Management and Development Company Limited) said that the vacant housing fund is mostly rented to workers, making many freelancers or other low-income people unqualified even if they want to.
In addition, the state of housing degradation has also caused many people to be approved for rent but refuse to receive the house. Currently, there are 8 elevators in 4 buildings that are severely damaged, the fire prevention and fighting systems of low-rise buildings are outdated, many equipment are damaged but have not been replaced.
The house management company has reported the difficulties and inadequacies to the Hanoi Department of Construction. Recently, on June 26, the Department of Construction submitted to the Hanoi People's Committee a proposal to assign relevant units to organize an inspection and establish a project to renovate the housing area using the state budget.
However, the company representative said that while waiting for the policy to be amended or upgraded, the unit still has to comply with current regulations, can only guide the receipt of documents according to the correct process without being able to flexibly resolve the actual problems of workers.
