Reality in major economic centers shows that businesses are not only competing with wages, but the quality of life, living conditions and access to housing are also increasingly becoming important factors determining whether employees are attached for a long time or not.
A worker who has to spend most of his income on rent, living in a cramped residential area, lacking utilities and often facing the risk of rent increases will find it very difficult to feel secure at work.
Conversely, if they have a stable place to live, reasonable cost, near the workplace and have full essential services, they will have more motivation to stick with businesses and localities.
That is also why many cities are seeing rental housing as part of development infrastructure, similar to transportation, electricity or clean water.
Hai Phong currently aims to develop tens of thousands of social housing units and prioritizes the long-term rental housing model serving workers in industrial parks. Ho Chi Minh City also pays special attention to this segment when determining to develop more than 50,000 social housing units for rent in the coming period.
These figures show that housing thinking is undergoing a remarkable shift. Because, if only focusing on building houses for sale, many workers still find it difficult to access. Meanwhile, rental housing can help them stabilize their lives immediately without having to bear the pressure of prolonged debt for decades.
More importantly, developing rental housing also contributes to changing a very popular social mindset that owning a house is considered "settling down". While in many developed countries, long-term rent is a normal choice for a large part of the population and owning a house is no longer a top priority.
Of course, developing rental housing does not mean building many affordable apartments and then completing the targets. What workers need are housing areas with commensurate living quality, well managed, with community living space, schools, medical services and convenient transportation systems.
Rented housing also needs to be placed in a strong enough legal framework to protect tenants from abnormal price increases, unreasonable contract termination or unsecured living conditions.
Housing is an essential need of every person. But in the current conditions, perhaps more important than owning a house is living in a house that suits your affordability. At that time, affordable rental housing not only solves housing needs but also contributes to creating a more balanced real estate market, a more humane city and a more sustainable working environment.
