The demand for social housing is huge
As one of the industrial capitals of the North, where hundreds of thousands of workers and laborers are concentrated, in recent years the demand for social housing (NOXH) in Bac Ninh province has always been very large.
To date, the locality has implemented 54 social housing projects for low-income people and housing for industrial park workers, with a total land area of about 173 hectares. Of which, 16 social housing projects have been completed with more than 18,000 apartments.
According to Lao Dong reporters, at the Cat Tuong Smart City social housing project (Yen Phong district, Bac Ninh province), for each sale of hundreds of apartments, people registered to buy them all within just a few days. Among them, there are many households, both husband and wife work in nearby industrial parks.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Minh (born in 2000), working in Yen Phong Industrial Park, said that after being approved to be eligible to buy social housing, his family bought a 70m2 apartment in the project. I chose to buy here because it is close to my workplace, the price is suitable for workers' income, the quality is guaranteed, there are many amenities such as parks and regulating lakes, and I can borrow low interest rates from the Policy Bank, said Mr. Minh.
Mr. Pham Tien Dung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cat Tuong Joint Stock Company - the project investor, said that the project has a scale of 20 hectares with 20 social housing blocks and also has social infrastructure works such as schools, medical facilities, cultural houses, and sports areas.
"Up to now, we have started construction of all buildings and expect to complete 50% of the apartments in 2025, equivalent to 1,000 apartments. By mid-2026, we will complete 100% of the project with about 2,000 apartments to meet the large demand in the area with many industrial parks in the province, said Mr. Pham Tien Dung.
Similarly, in Duy Tien town, Ha Nam province, the Ha Nam Provincial Trade Union Institution Area has been in operation since December 2021. The scale includes 5 buildings with a total of 244 social housing apartments and 1 multi-purpose house, along with a common sports playground of more than 1,000m2. To date, the occupancy rate of social housing apartments in the project has reached 100%, with no more apartments for rent.
According to the reporter's actual survey, with room rental and electricity and water prices lower than outside rentals, moving into a union-powered area helps workers' families save significantly to take care of their future.
In Duy Tien town, there are 4 large industrial parks, through a survey by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in the area, it shows that the demand for shortage of accommodation for workers in the area is very large. Workers and laborers are looking forward to having more social housing areas, such as the social housing area in the Trade Union Institution Area, said Mr. Vu Duc Tam, an officer of the Trade Union Institution Project Management Board (VGCL).
Expectations to accelerate social housing
In reality, the number of social housing units is not enough to meet the needs of the people, especially for workers and laborers.
According to the Ministry of Construction, from 2021 to present, the whole country has 655 social housing projects implemented, completing 103 projects. However, the number of apartments to date has only reached 15.6%, the target of the Social Housing Development Project until 2025.
At the end of February, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned specific social housing construction targets to each locality. In early March, the Prime Minister chaired a national conference to remove difficulties and obstacles, and promote the development of social housing. On May 20, the Government submitted to the National Assembly a Resolution on a number of specific policies and mechanisms for the development of social housing.
Among them, there are some outstanding incentives for investors participating in building social housing. First, investors will be able to increase their profit from the current 10%, to a maximum of 13%. Second, the proposal to assign investors to social housing projects is not through bidding, but based on the assignment of competent authorities. That is, the bidding process for selecting investors will be reduced, which usually takes 6-12 months.
The third is to build a National Social Housing Fund to perform the function of investment and construction, creating a social housing fund, housing for cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers for hire-purchase and hire-purchase.
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Le Van Nghia - Head of the Trade Union Institution Project Management Board (VGCL) - said that the Resolution on specific policies on social housing was drafted very promptly, if approved, it will contribute to removing bottlenecks in social housing development in recent times.
The expected reduction of bidding by 6 months will help social housing projects be implemented faster, thereby helping to increase the supply of social housing for workers and laborers in particular and society in general, said Mr. Le Van Nghia.
The Head of the Union Institutional Project Management Board added that, in order to meet the increasing demand for social housing of workers and employees, at the end of July, July 2025, the VGCL will start the project of social housing for workers and employees hiring with trade union finance in Tien Giang. The scale of the project in Tien Giang is 512 social houses, the total investment is about VND 400 billion. Trade union institutions in Ben Tre, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang are also in the process of implementation. Projects have made a feasibility study report and are submitting to the provincial People's Committee. The commencement is expected to take place in December this year.
National Housing Fund - experience from International
Dr. Can Van Luc - Chief Economist of BIDV: On Housing Policy Finance through the National Housing and Urban Fund. In 1981, South Korea established the National Housing Fund (NHF), and in 2015 changed its name to the National Housing and Urban Fund (NHUF). This is an important financial tool to support the affordable housing market, provide capital for businesses and organize the implementation of housing projects in this country.
The fund operates on the principle of revenue - expenditure, not for profit, but ensuring capital refund and cost offset. The main participants include the Government: Managing and contributing capital to the fund through the budget. Real Estate Business (Real Estate): It is both preferential when building cheap houses and contributing capital through the purchase of housing bonds. Financial institutions: Intermediate between policies and people, participating in buying bonds, contributing capital to establish a guarantee company. People: both preferential borrowed and can contribute capital to the fund via bonds or save housing. Operating capital includes state budget: 20%; Bonds and savings: 36%; Business activities: 21%; Fund's surplus: 33% of business support methods are preferential loans, credit guarantee.
People are supported to buy low -interest houses, long -term fixed, many cases lower than the basic interest rate of the central bank. The urban project is supported to renovate houses, build infrastructure to serve the vulnerable group. Singapore: Central Savings Fund (CPF) connecting security and housing since 1995, Singapore used the Central Savings Fund (CPF) - which is equivalent to Vietnam Social Insurance - to support people to buy houses. The operation mechanism includes: employees contribute 20% of salary to CPF, employers pay 17%, people can use CPF account to buy houses from the Housing Development Council (HDB) with incentives. CPF also bought government bonds with an interest rate of 2.5%/year - indirectly granting capital for state housing programs.
Lan Huong
The Resolution was soon approved and implemented into practice
As an investor with more than 10 years of implementing the construction of social housing projects, Mr. Pham Tien Dung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cat Tuong Joint Stock Company, hopes that the Resolution will soon be approved and implemented in practice.
If the procedures become quick and convenient, businesses doing projects in just 1 year will both help reduce costs and speed up project implementation, bringing products to the market soon, helping to reduce the cost of each apartment. Workers, workers, and low-income people will benefit when social housing prices decrease, said Mr. Pham Tien Dung.
Economic expert Nguyen Minh Phong commented that with positive signals in recent times, the social housing segment is expected to improve supply in 2025 and accelerate in the coming time, helping the dream of settling down get closer to workers and low-income people.
To contribute to conveying the Government's message of focusing on promoting the development of social housing, on May 28, Lao Dong Newspaper organized a Workshop on "Solutions to accelerate the construction of social housing". This is a forum for management agencies, experts and workers to discuss specific and feasible solutions that can be implemented in the coming time, in order to accelerate the completion of the target of 1 million social housing units nationwide.
