Workers buy social housing but it hasn't been delivered for 3 years

Da Nang: The delay in handing over social housing has made many workers angry, and they have reported it to the city's National Assembly Delegation on the afternoon of May 12.

6/15 opinions of workers mentioned the shortcomings in accessing social housing at the conference to contact voters organized by the National Assembly Delegation, People's Council, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and Da Nang City Labor Federation.

Worker Pham Thi Tuong Vi (Mabuchi Motor Da Nang Co., Ltd.) said that some workers bought social apartments in areas E3, E4 (Hoa Khanh Industrial Park) from Saigon Thuan Phuoc Green Real Estate Company nearly 3 years ago, but still have not received their houses.

"The company promised many times, but until now they still have not delivered the house as per the signed contract. The delay in delivering the house has caused us financial difficulties as well as housing difficulties, having to pay the bank loan and rent," said Ms. Vi.

Worker Tuong Vy expressed her opinion at the voter meeting on the afternoon of May 12. Photo: Nguyen Dong — Worker Tuong Vi expressed her opinion at the voter meeting on the afternoon of May 12. Photo: *Nguyen Dong*

Worker Nguyen Thi Xuan An (Fujikura Automotive Vietnam Co., Ltd.) reported that the apartment area in the social housing for workers in Hoa Cam Industrial Park is too small, only 16 square meters, not meeting the living needs of a family of 3.

"To have a minimum living space, I respectfully request the City People's Council and the City People's Committee to pay attention and increase the apartment area to facilitate the living of workers' families, especially households with 3 or more members," said Ms. An.

Responding to the petitions, Mr. Tran Van Hoang, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Construction, said that the social housing project invested by Saigon Thuan Phuoc Company has 1,496 units. Of the 1,150 apartments for sale, 1,131 have been sold and 346 have been rented out. The selling price of the apartments is about VND9.4 million/m2, and the rental price is VND48,000/m2/month.

"After receiving feedback about the delay in handing over the houses, the Department worked with the investor, and they committed to handing over the houses by August 31. We asked the investor to record in the minutes that if the houses are not delivered by the deadline, they must support the workers with rent," said Mr. Hoang.

Hoa Cam Industrial Park has 285 housing units for workers, 117 of which have been approved and 44 have been rented out, each apartment is only 16 square meters in area. Mr. Hoang said the City Labor Federation has sent a document requesting to renovate and expand to 32 square meters, and install an elevator, with an estimated cost of 15.8 billion VND.

Sharing with workers when the cost of renting a house accounts for 20% of their monthly income, Vice Chairwoman of Da Nang City Ngo Thi Kim Yen said that the city has about 70,000 workers in industrial parks, of which 40% have to rent houses, meaning that 28,000 houses are needed. However, the current number of social housing cannot meet the demand.

"Da Nang is submitting to the Government a proposal to convert the function of the western dormitory into social housing for workers to partially address the need," said Ms. Yen.

People line up to buy social housing at a project in Lien Chieu district, Da Nang, on May 8. Photo: Dong Van — People line up to buy social housing at a project in Lien Chieu district, Da Nang, on May 8. Photo: *Dong Van*

At the conference, many workers reported that it was difficult to meet the criteria for buying social housing with the criteria of not paying personal income tax; having to have temporary residence for 12 months to be able to rent or buy a house. Mr. Le Van Hung (Song Han Auto Joint Stock Company) analyzed that workers have to work overtime to ensure their living, but when their income reaches the taxable level, they are not allowed to buy social housing.

"With an income of more than 11 million VND/month, if you borrow from a commercial bank to buy a house, the installment payment will be 2/3, the remaining amount is not enough to cover living expenses for the month. I hope the National Assembly and the Government will review the regulations to suit reality," Mr. Hung said, suggesting that workers only need to have a labor contract of at least one year to be able to buy and rent a house.

The Da Nang City National Assembly Delegation has accepted the proposal on the personal income tax rate for those eligible to buy social housing to be submitted to the discussion sessions on the Housing Law (amended) project in the upcoming session; at the same time, it is requested that the Da Nang City People's Committee and the Department of Construction study the regulation that workers must have temporary residence for 12 months to be able to rent or buy social housing.

Nguyen Dong

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