Social housing, workers' housing "unsold"
The recent real estate market report of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) shows that in the third quarter, the country recorded more than 250 housing projects for sale, most of which were the next phases of the project. Providing the market with about 20,000 products.
In addition to the supply from the next phases of old projects, the market recorded new supply from newly opened projects in some localities such as Can Tho, Lao Cai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong... Many projects were extended, started, restarted...
The supply structure is still mostly low-rise products and land plots, accounting for 54% of the total housing supply in the country.
The mid-range apartment segment (VND25-50 million/m2) and high-end apartment segment (VND50-80 million/m2) continued to lead the supply of new apartments in the quarter, accounting for 58% and 26% of the total supply of apartments for sale, respectively.
The affordable apartment segment (under VND25 million/m2) continues to be scarce, appearing in small quantities in some tier 2 and 3 provinces and cities. The total supply of affordable apartments decreased by 98% compared to 2019.
Notably, according to VARS, social housing is both in short supply and unsold. Social housing projects in Hai Phong and Da Nang sold out almost immediately upon launch, while the industrial capital of Bac Ninh has only sold one-third of its inventory despite multiple offers.
A social housing project is being implemented (Photo: Ha Phong).
Last August, in a report sent to the Ministry of Construction, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province said that although Bac Ninh province has invested in building tens of thousands of workers' houses, it seems that workers working in the province are not interested in buying workers' houses.
Accordingly, among the 7 completed and partially completed worker housing projects in Bac Ninh, providing the market with about 4,000 completed apartments, the number of workers working in industrial parks registering to buy houses is very small.
The report stated that recently, project owners have advertised 1,681 worker housing units for sale, but very few have been sold. Currently, 7 projects still have 1,324 units left.
Recently, in the report on receiving, adjusting and completing the draft revised Housing Law just sent to the Government, the Ministry of Construction said that there are 15 localities nationwide with social housing owned by the State with a total of 15,841 units. Of which, 12,162 units have been rented, 1,380 units have been rented out (in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and Vinh Long province), 929 units have been sold and 750 units are still vacant because there are no tenants/rent-purchasers or because the tenants have expired the lease term and returned it due to no longer having demand, 620 units in Ho Chi Minh City have not had a specific report on the situation of renting and renting-purchasing this housing fund.
Da Nang City has 10,579 social housing units owned by the State, but there are no cases of renting, only renting. The City has prepared a project to report to the Prime Minister for permission to sell 846 units and has sold 616 units.
Need to expand the target audience
The Ministry of Construction assessed that allowing the form of lease-purchase would lead to fewer beneficiaries, reducing the rental housing fund. At the same time, allowing lease-purchase would lead to a "leopard skin" form of ownership: In a project or a building, there is both private ownership and state ownership, leading to difficulties in management, use and operation.
In addition, according to international experience, most countries, including China, Korea, Singapore... when investing in social housing with the State budget, only use it for rent.
Social housing and workers' housing are both lacking and unsold (Illustration photo: Ha Phong)
Explaining why more than 1,000 workers' houses have no buyers, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province said that the majority of workers are from other provinces, have unstable residence, often move and change jobs. On the other hand, workers' income is still low, so the sale, lease and hire-purchase of workers' houses in Bac Ninh has been very slow recently.
To increase the attractiveness of workers' housing, Bac Ninh province recommends that the Ministry of Construction study and supplement more special incentive mechanisms for workers' accommodation and social housing for workers. This is accompanied by a system of standards, regulations, specific regulations and instructions on the management and synchronous development of this type of housing.
The province also recommended that the Ministry of Construction study and amend regulations and policies related to investment in the construction of synchronous technical and social infrastructure in large-scale social housing projects, ensuring the goal of reducing social housing prices, in accordance with the income and affordability of social subjects.
At the same time, specify the method of determining selling, renting, and hire-purchase prices in the case of large-scale social housing areas with full infrastructure.
From an expert perspective, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam - Member of the VARS Real Estate Market Research Working Group - said that even if the 1 million social housing project is fully implemented, the supply of social housing will still not be able to meet the demand. Meanwhile, the process of implementing, constructing and selling social housing projects still has many problems, from legal mechanisms to regulations and purchase conditions as well as cases eligible for policies.
Mr. Nam suggested that housing policies should target all classes in society. Regulations on beneficiaries of social housing policies should be changed to be more appropriate. Social housing is not for sale to the rich, but should target those with incomes that are subject to taxation, have savings, but cannot access commercial housing with high prices.
"The demand for social housing is huge, but development planning needs to be carefully calculated to achieve the goal of helping businesses recover during difficult times and supporting low-income people to have the opportunity to settle down," Mr. Nam emphasized.
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