The Ministry of Construction proposes to apply a lending limit for home loans (except for social housing) not exceeding 50% of the value of the home sale and purchase contract for second home loans; not exceeding 30% of the contract value for third home loans or more.
There are many issues to be discussed regarding this proposal. Many opinions say that limiting access to capital can prevent speculation but is not a solution that can be solved at the root.
First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between speculation and business investment. Buying abandoned houses and land waiting for the selling price to increase the difference is speculation.
But there are also many people who buy more houses to rent or open shops, restaurants, and cafes. When renting a house or doing business, they are obliged to pay taxes, which is a legal investment.
There are many legitimate needs for buying a second home, if limited because all transactions are speculative activities, it will not be satisfactory.
Free business is a right of the people and that right must be protected by law.
Individuals and businesses borrow investment capital, profits or losses are a business matter, and cannot intervene by limiting those business rights.
Not to mention, people come to work in a new place, buy an apartment to stabilize their lives. Recently, when merging localities, many cadres and civil servants transferred to new agencies, also having the need to buy houses or apartments to live in, feeling secure in their work. These people are not real estate speculators.
Second, to prevent speculation, many policies must be introduced for the real estate market to develop healthily. Control raw material prices on the market to bring products back to the correct price.
Third, currently, real estate projects are often concentrated in central areas and have high prices, which is also a factor that gives rise to speculation.
Therefore, it is necessary to plan urban areas with vision, build a public transport infrastructure system to expand to suburban areas, and develop housing projects far from the center.
When there are many housing projects with many different segments, rich supply, and the majority of people with real needs can access products at suitable prices, there will be no place for speculation.
Another issue that needs to be considered is that if only focusing on measures to limit access to loans, it will affect the operations of the bank.
Banks are also businesses, needing customers to have revenue and profit. There should be no intervention to limit subjects or limit lending by policies outside of current regulations.
