Quang Nam effectively implements social housing loan policy

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngan next to her new house built with a loan from the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Phu Ninh District. Photo: Q.VIET

Housing for the people

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngan (Tan Phu village, Tam Phuoc commune, Phu Ninh) is living in a fairly spacious house with a width of 5m and a length of 20m. To have this property, after saving 400 million VND, Ms. Ngan contacted the Commune Women's Union for support through the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank (CSXH) of Phu Ninh district to borrow 200 million VND from the Government 's social housing loan program to build a house.

“This is the second storm season that my family feels secure living in a solid house built with social housing loan support,” said Ms. Ngan.

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Minh - Deputy Director of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Phu Ninh district said that the outstanding loans for social housing investment according to Decree No. 100 (2015) of the Government in the area up to now is more than 42.7 billion VND with 159 customers still having outstanding loans.

The unit has closely coordinated with the authorities of communes, towns, farmers' associations, women's associations, veterans' associations, and youth unions to receive loan capital entrustment to effectively implement the social housing loan program according to Decree No. 100.

Up to now, 159 new houses have been built to help people settle down and stabilize their lives, help the locality ensure social security, and contribute to eliminating temporary, leaky, and unstable houses.

In the mountainous district of Nam Tra My, social housing loans under Decree No. 100 currently have an outstanding debt of nearly VND1.2 billion with 5 customers still in debt. Mr. Nguyen Van Hien - Director of the Transaction Office of the Bank for Social Policies in Nam Tra My district said that social housing loans are very practical but the number of beneficiary families in the area is not much.

"We continue to promote the social housing loan program according to Decree No. 100 of the Government so that people can access loans to invest in housing safely," said Mr. Hien.

Continue to deploy

Mr. Hoang Thanh Lan - Head of Planning and Operations Department (Social Policy Bank, Quang Nam branch) said that the social housing loan program according to Decree No. 100 of the Government through the Social Policy Bank channel applies to households with revolutionary contributions, low-income people, poor and near-poor households in urban areas; workers working in enterprises inside and outside industrial parks; officers, professional non-commissioned officers, technical officers, professional soldiers, workers in agencies and units of the People's Public Security and the People's Army; cadres, civil servants and public employees according to the provisions of law.

People build new, spacious houses with loans from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Quang Nam branch. Photo: Q.VIET

With this regulation, the program is very practical and meaningful, helping many families have the conditions to build houses to settle down and make a living. Up to now, the outstanding loan balance of the program in the whole province is 601 billion VND.

Since the beginning of the year, social housing lending under Decree No. 100 through the policy bank channel has stopped. Recently, the Government Office issued Notice No. 449 on the conclusion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the conference summarizing 10 years of implementing Directive No. 40 dated November 22, 2014 of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership over social policy credit.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned the Ministry of Construction to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Bank of Vietnam to complete by October 2024 the research, development, and implementation of a preferential credit package of about VND 30 trillion for the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to implement the above content.

Of which, 15 trillion VND comes from issuing government bonds and 15 trillion VND comes from the budget of provinces and cities entrusted for lending. Regarding this, Mr. Hoang Thanh Lan said: "Continuing to lend for social housing is a good sign. We are carefully studying the regulations of the Bank for Social Policies to effectively implement them in the province."

Social housing loans under Decree No. 100 of the Government have been implemented since 2015 with an interest rate of 4.8%/year. However, the Bank for Social Policies has advised the Government to increase the interest rate to 6.6%, effective from August 1, 2024.

According to Mr. Le Hung Lam - Director of the Bank for Social Policies, Quang Nam branch, the new interest rate was adjusted to ensure the sustainability of the lending program and reduce the burden on the state budget. However, many households borrowing capital to invest in social housing are worried because they have considered their expenses and planned to pay interest of 4.8%/year, but when it increases to 6.6%/year, they have to recalculate and save on spending to be able to pay the new higher interest rate.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/quang-nam-trien-khai-hieu-qua-chinh-sach-cho-vay-nha-o-xa-hoi-3142576.html