The trend of moving to areas far from the center
Near Thang Long Industrial Park (Tien Loc Commune, Hanoi), the CT3 social housing project is under urgent construction. The total number of apartments in the project is 1,104, including 175 commercial apartments for sale with an area of 59 - 63m2; 717 social housing apartments for sale with similar areas and 212 social housing apartments for rent, with an area of 49 - 59m2. Along with the construction progress, many workers and laborers are also busy completing documents and papers to register to buy social housing.
Mr. Tran Gia Tan, from Ninh Binh, who has been working in the Bac Thang Long industrial cluster for more than 6 years, said: Through research, the CT3 project meets many criteria suitable for the needs of the family such as being near the workplace, near his child's school... However, Mr. Tan still expressed concern about the process of approving and drawing lots for apartments.
According to Mr. Tan, housing prices in the inner city are currently too high, causing many people to tend to move to areas far from the center such as Thien Loc commune to find opportunities to own a house that suits their financial capacity. Therefore, competition in registering to buy social housing will also be fiercer.
Mr. Tan said that the temporary selling price of social housing apartments is 18.4 million VND/m2, including VAT and maintenance costs. This is a suitable price for workers, but he hopes to have more installment payment policies with low interest rates, because "to have more than 1 billion VND in one-time payment is very difficult for workers" - he said.
Not only Mr. Tan, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan has worked in Bac Thang Long Industrial Park for more than 10 years, still having to rent a room with his wife and children.
Mr. Toan shared that he has learned about the social housing purchase policy, but the biggest obstacle is financial capacity and procedures for accessing preferential loans. Previously, the income requirement for social housing buyers and married people was not more than 30 million VND/month. For workers, their income exceeds the threshold during the overtime months, leading to difficulty in meeting the conditions. Now that the State has adjusted the regulations, I hope to have more opportunities to buy a house" - Mr. Toan said.
Should build social housing areas and rent to low-income people at reasonable prices
Recently, the Government issued Decree 261/2025/ND-CP, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 100 and Decree 192 on the development and management of social housing.
Accordingly, income conditions are relaxed: Married people with a total income of no more than 40 million VND/month, instead of 30 million VND as before. Singles with an average income of no more than 20 million VND/month (an increase of 5 million VND compared to the old regulation). Singles raising children under 18 years old have a maximum income of 30 million VND/month.
The time to determine income conditions is calculated in 12 consecutive months up to the time of confirmation by the competent authority.
In case the social housing buyer does not have a labor contract, the police agency at the commune level where they are residing or temporarily residing will base on population data to confirm income within 7 days from receipt of the application. According to Decree 261, the interest rate for social housing loans is 5.4%/year, overdue debt determines the lending interest rate by 130%.
Social housing buyers must also meet the additional conditions of not having a house, or having a house but an average area of less than 15m2/person, according to confirmation from the People's Committees at the commune and ward levels.
Discussing this policy, Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation said that there needs to be a true social housing policy, coordinated by the State, which can be implemented through the construction of a national housing fund from the budget or other mobilized capital sources.
According to Mr. Luong, instead of letting workers manage their own commercial loans, the State should invest in building social housing areas and renting low-income people at reasonable prices. "For difficult cases who are not eligible to pay, it is still necessary to create opportunities for them to have a stable place to live. Investors should only play a role in building and handing over to the State for management and fair distribution" - he proposed.
A representative of the Hanoi Department of Construction said that this year, the city will have 6 completed social housing projects, along with many new projects approved and started, striving to achieve the target of 4,670 social housing units in 2025 according to the plan assigned by the Government.
In reality, developing social housing, especially in industrial parks, not only solves the problem of housing for workers, but also contributes to stabilizing human resources and promoting local economic development. The early implementation of a synchronous policy, from loan support to expanding social housing planning, is a legitimate and urgent desire of millions of workers across the country.
