Opening roads for workers to access social housing

Workers from rural areas still find it difficult to access NƠXH

Anh Hà Doãn Du (a worker renting a room at the worker's housing area in Kim Chung Commune, Đông Anh District, Hà Nội) said that his wife and he have the intention to buy NƠXH, but they do not have sufficient financial capacity. “If we can borrow with preferential interest rates, it would be very good for us to buy a house. However, the house price must be reasonable so that we dare to borrow money to buy. I think that the highest price of NƠXH is 700-800 million VND, then workers like us can afford to buy and repay the bank loan while still ensuring our living expenses” - Anh Du shared.

Similarly, the total income of worker Phạm Thị Ngân (34 years old, from Thanh Hóa) is only 18-20 million VND per month, after deducting living expenses, children, and only a few million VND are left. That is not to mention that the family has a job, illness, and the wife's and husband's salary is not enough for living expenses.

According to chị Ngân, if the income does not increase in any way, the couple must repay the loan in 20 years to have NƠXH. Both children are currently in elementary school, if they cannot settle down and work in the city, chị Ngân calculates that in the future, she will send the children back to their grandparents in the countryside. Meanwhile, chị Ngân and her husband will stick to the city for another 5-7 years, saving a bit of money and then returning to the countryside.

Longing for NƠXH, chị Ngân hopes that new projects will have many apartments with an area of less than 50m2, with reasonable prices so that people with average income have many options to buy. At the same time, for NƠXH projects, the state needs to have policies to support loans, preferential interest rates, then cases like hers can have the opportunity to buy.

According to the female worker, the current NƠXH projects are very difficult to access, in addition to income, to be eligible to buy a house, one must meet many other criteria. “NƠXH projects are few, while the demand for buyers is much higher, it is very difficult to get approved. The new law has stipulated that the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor can build NƠXH for workers to rent. If we cannot buy a house, we can also rent at a low price, and the living environment is much better than the current rental houses. We still have to hope and rely on it” - chị Ngân said.

Reducing pressure on housing for workers

In an interview with a reporter, Mr. Lê Văn Nghĩa - Head of the Project Management Board of the Trade Union (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) - said that the Decree has increased the income requirement for single individuals to be eligible for NƠXH support from 11 million VND per month to 15 million VND per month.

“This adjustment will create conditions for workers, people with income like this to buy houses and also ensure social security, reduce the pressure on housing for workers. In addition, the selection criteria can be simplified, the content related to the registration file can be concise and lighter than before. This is one of the big opportunities for people, including workers and laborers, to enjoy the state's preferential treatment” - Mr. Nghĩa commented.

Mr. Nghĩa believes that reducing the interest rate for home loans in society is extremely necessary. “If we borrow at the interest rate of commercial banks to buy NƠXH, it will be very difficult for workers and people with low income. Just having a policy to support interest rates for loans will create conditions for workers, people with low income in society to be less burdensome, save a part of their income to make it easier to repay the bank loan; reduce costs for people with low income, thereby creating more favorable conditions for accessing NƠXH” - Mr. Nghĩa commented.