Is buying social housing as difficult as "climbing a greasy pole"?

Many people believe that buying social housing is “impossible” because the competition for a place is too high. However, these complaints may soon disappear as the supply of social housing increases.

Many people believe that buying social housing is “impossible” because the competition for a place is too high. However, these complaints may soon disappear as the supply of social housing increases.

The hardest part of buying social housing is submitting the application.

Confiding with a reporter from the Investment Electronic Newspaper - Baodautu.vn , Mr. Luu Thang, a resident at the NHS Trung Van social housing (Nam Tu Liem district) said that until now he still feels lucky to have won the lottery to buy an apartment in the project.

In 2023, the investor only opened for sale 149 apartments but there were more than 1,300 applications to buy. The opportunity for people to settle down at NHS Trung Van is only 1/9. This competition rate is even higher than the entrance exam to specialized schools and selective classes.

NHS Trung Van social housing project has a competition ratio of 1/9. Photo: Thanh Vu

“Buying an apartment is a very difficult journey. I still remember the image of people lining up in long lines, waiting for a long time, staying up all night to submit their documents to the investor. This is the most difficult and tiring step when I buy social housing,” said Mr. Luu Thang.

Sharing about borrowing from the bank, the character said that he himself did not borrow the 145,000 billion VND package (previously 120,000 billion VND). Instead, he registered for a loan package from the Social Policy Bank. Last year, the preferential interest rate he enjoyed was relatively attractive, only 4.8%/year, with a loan term of 25 years.

“The interest rate has now increased to 6.6% per year. Previously, I only had to pay the principal and interest of about 5-6 million VND per month. Now the number has increased to more than 8 million VND per month. For me, this increase is a problem,” Mr. Thang shared.

However, he believes that the interest rate of 6.6%/year is still at a manageable level. Currently, many commercial banks have preferential interest rates of 3-4% for the first 2-3 years, after which the interest rate will return to the floating rate of 10-11%/year. For workers like Mr. Thang, such a high interest rate is a heavy burden, extinguishing the dream of settling down.

Policy creates momentum to help supply explode soon

Sharing with reporters, Ms. Pham Thi Mien, Deputy Head of Market Research and Consulting, Investment Promotion Department of Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association (VARS), commented that many people think that buying social housing is as difficult as “climbing a greasy pole” because the current supply is still unable to meet the needs of people, especially in big cities. It is the lack of supply that has forced many people to rely on “luck” when drawing lots to buy.

“However, looking at it fairly, social housing policies have become much more open for both investors and home buyers,” Ms. Mien emphasized.

From the buyer’s perspective, the Housing Law 2023 has removed the residency requirement when purchasing social housing. In addition, the maximum income criterion has also been expanded, from VND11 million/month to VND15 million/month.

“In a family, if one of the husband or wife is a housewife, the other only needs to have a maximum income of 30 million VND/month to be eligible to buy social housing,” the VARS expert added.

At the same time, the Housing Law 2023 has added more groups of beneficiaries of social housing support policies. The above regulations help people get closer to the goal of home ownership.

Not stopping there, Ms. Mien affirmed that businesses are also enjoying more preferential policies when developing social housing.

“Previously, the procedures for businesses to apply for exemption from land use fees were very complicated. However, under the new regulations, investors will be exempted from land use fees by default without having to go through the procedures,” Ms. Mien cited.

In addition, the profit margin issue, which many businesses have complained about, has also been adjusted. Accordingly, the 10% profit margin previously applied to social housing projects, including commercial and service facilities. However, this regulation has been changed.

“Enterprises building social housing will be allowed to use 20% of the total floor area to build business and commercial services. The profit from this category will not be subject to the previous ceiling. This will motivate more businesses to actively participate in developing social housing,” Ms. Mien analyzed.

In the coming time, the social housing segment promises to continue to explode with the participation of many "big names" in the real estate industry such as Vingroup, Sungroup, Novaland, Hung Thinh Land... In addition, the Prime Minister's assignment of social housing completion targets to localities will also be a "doping dose" to help the whole country get closer to the goal of 1 million social housing units by 2030.

In 2025, the number of projects registered by localities to complete will reach 135, with nearly 101,900 apartments, 1,625 more than the target. In 2026, the target is to complete 116,347 apartments; in 2027, 148,343 apartments; in 2028, 172,402 apartments; in 2029, 186,917 apartments; and in 2030, 271,161 apartments.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/batdongsan/mua-nha-o-xa-hoi-co-kho-nhu-leo-cot-mo-d251126.html