Buying social housing for the wrong people, determined to recover it

On the afternoon of June 3, at the Government press conference, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh answered questions about solutions to rectify the situation of brokers in buying social housing and increase opportunities for low-income people to own social housing.

Emphasizing that social housing is a humane policy of the Party and State to provide accommodation for a large number of low-income workers, Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh said that in recent times, there have been many preferential policies to create conditions for low-income people to access better social housing.

However, he also admitted that recently, with some projects in localities such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Da Nang, Dak Lak... there has been a phenomenon of intermediaries and brokers taking advantage of the scarcity of social housing to advertise for sale for profit.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh. Photo: Nhat Bac

Affirming that this behavior is wrong, the Deputy Minister of Construction said that if any wrongdoing is discovered, social housing that has been sold to the wrong people must be recovered. The Ministry of Construction also issued many documents requesting localities - where this phenomenon occurs - to promptly inspect, examine, and review to clarify the issues raised by the press, thereby finding solutions to rectify and handle them promptly.

According to the Deputy Minister of Construction, legal documents have clearly defined beneficiaries and public, transparent and clear conditions and criteria for low-income people to enjoy incentives to buy social housing.

Accordingly, the subjects who buy social housing are defined as people with revolutionary contributions; low-income people, poor and near-poor households in urban areas; workers working at enterprises inside and outside industrial parks; officers, professional non-commissioned officers, technical non-commissioned officers, professional soldiers; cadres, civil servants, and public employees; subjects who have returned official housing; households and individuals subject to land recovery and must clear and demolish houses according to the provisions of law but have not been compensated by the State with housing and residential land.

The condition to buy social housing is to meet all housing conditions (no house or have a house but the average area is less than 10m2/person).

Regarding residence (must have permanent residence registration or temporary residence registration confirmation and social insurance payment confirmation for 1 year or more at the location of the social housing project).

Regarding income (not subject to personal income tax, i.e. income under 11 million VND after family deductions), each household or individual is only eligible for support to buy social housing once.

The Deputy Minister of Construction also clarified the procedure for receiving applications for purchasing social housing. The investor is responsible for receiving the applications and making a list of people expected to buy social housing and sending it to the Department of Construction. The Department of Construction will coordinate with relevant agencies to check this list. After determining the list, a lottery will be held to purchase social housing.

"The regulations are transparent and avoid profiteering in policy implementation, ensuring that policies reach the right beneficiaries," said Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh.

Regarding long-term solutions, the Deputy Minister of Construction said that local ministries and branches are actively implementing the Project of 1 million social housing approved by the Prime Minister.

The Ministry has requested localities to publicly announce the conditions, standards, and subjects of social housing purchase; strictly manage and monitor the purchase and sale of social housing.

Besides, localities need to step up inspection, examination, supervision and handling of violations in buying and selling social housing in the area.

"When we discover a case of social housing being sold to the wrong people, we must resolutely reclaim the housing," Mr. Sinh emphasized.

Source