Removing the supply of social housing

Many ministries, branches and localities have done well in developing social housing under the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister; in the first 9 months of 2025, the whole country is investing in building 132,616 units, starting 73 new projects with a scale of 57,815 units; 50,687/100,275 units have been completed (reaching 50.5%), it is expected that by the end of 2025, an additional 38,600 units will be completed (total of 89,007/100,275 units, reaching 89%).

Phu Lam social housing area. Photo: Investor Hai Phat

Social housing is an issue of special concern to the Party and the State; recently, many policies and guidelines have been issued to solve the social housing problem. At the 9th Session, the National Assembly issued Resolution 201/2025/QH15 on piloting a number of specific policies for social housing development. Since the beginning of the year, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued 3 resolutions, 3 telegrams, 12 directives and administrative documents to promote the development of social housing and develop a safe, healthy and sustainable real estate market.

Based on the guidelines, policies, and close direction of the Prime Minister , many ministries, branches, and localities have made great efforts to implement social housing policies and achieved remarkable results. However, there are also agencies and localities whose results in developing social housing are still modest. The implementation process also encountered some difficulties and obstacles, and a number of legal regulations, mechanisms, and policies on the development of the real estate market and social housing have not been amended or supplemented in accordance with the actual situation. Although attention has been paid to development, the supply of social housing is still lacking, not meeting actual needs; the land fund of localities for social housing development in general still has limitations; many social housing projects are slow to be implemented... Also because the supply is not enough to meet demand, many low-income workers who have housing needs still do not have the opportunity to access social housing.

Therefore, to continue to remove obstacles in the development of social housing, the cooperation of many related parties is needed. Accordingly, agencies, within their authority, need to continue to advise and build and perfect institutions, focusing on removing difficulties and obstacles in the development of the real estate market in general and social housing in particular, including reviewing and simplifying procedures, cutting costs from land use fees, construction costs, and compliance costs - which are considered one of the barriers that lead to businesses not being very interested in participating in social housing projects.

At the same time, localities must ensure land funds for social housing development in accordance with regulations. In particular, the State Bank of Vietnam urges to promote the disbursement of the 145 trillion VND credit program for social housing and worker housing, ensuring both control of credit sources to avoid speculation, but also ensuring easier access to social housing policies. In addition, there must be a strict inspection and control mechanism to ensure that social housing policies reach the right beneficiaries.

The good news that many people have been waiting for a long time is that the Government has just issued Decree 261 amending and supplementing the decrees on social housing, in which the income ceiling for consideration to buy or rent-purchase social housing is raised to 20 million VND/month for individuals, 40 million VND/month for couples and 30 million VND/month for single individuals who are raising children under the age of majority. The new regulation also reduces the preferential loan interest rate for individuals buying social housing from 6.6% to 5.4%...

The loosening of conditions for purchasing social housing and the reduction of interest rates help low-income people according to the new regulations to significantly reduce the financial burden on home buyers; this helps expand opportunities for people to access social housing policies.

Ensuring the supply to meet the demand for social housing of low-income people is very necessary. This is a very important social policy to ensure social security, so that no one is left behind; however, in addition to ensuring the quantity of supply, social housing must ensure quality, to ensure the quality of life of home buyers. This is something that localities must pay close attention to when allocating land for social housing development. Because as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has repeatedly noted, social housing must not be located in "the middle of nowhere", with "extra land", but must have adequate infrastructure for transportation, electricity, water, telecommunications, health care, culture, and education.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/thao-go-nguon-cung-nha-o-xa-hoi-10390030.html