Amending the Housing Law: Ensuring housing for all citizens according to regulations

Attracting investment in housing development

At the 25th session, the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) gave opinions on explaining, accepting and revising the draft Law on Housing (amended).

Reporting on some major issues regarding the reception and revision of the draft Law on Housing (amended), Chairman of the Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung said that after reception and revision, the draft Law has 196 articles. This is a large Law project with many complex contents, directly affecting people, businesses, social security policies and the country's macro- economy , related to many laws, the draft Law is being submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.

The Chairman of the Law Committee stated that the draft law only regulates the contents within the scope of the Housing Law, the contents within the scope of the other draft laws being amended together with the draft Housing Law (amended) will be transferred to that draft law for adjustment; in case it is necessary to amend related laws, they will be amended synchronously to ensure the consistency of the legal system.

Dialogue - Amending the Housing Law: Ensuring housing for all citizens according to regulations — Chairman of the Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung reported on a number of major issues regarding the reception and revision of the draft Law on Housing (amended).

Specifically stipulate in the Law the contents that are mature, clear, have been tested in practice and have high consensus; the contents that are not mature enough or have changed according to the movement of economic and social life are assigned to the Government to stipulate in detail to ensure flexibility in the management and operation of the Government as well as the stability of the Law.

Along with that, the draft law strengthens decentralization and delegation of power to local authorities associated with a self-responsibility mechanism; shifts the focus from management by administrative tools to effective use of economic tools to promote housing development; establishes tools to control the power of agencies and competent persons in housing management and development; prevents and combats loopholes, corruption, and negativity in housing management, use, and development.

Promote administrative reform, simplify investment procedures to create a favorable environment for business investment, reduce legal compliance costs for people and businesses, attract investment in housing development and promote socio-economic development.

Need preferential policies for social housing

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong said that it is necessary to clarify which contents are stipulated in the Housing Law, which contents are stipulated in the Investment Law, Land Law, and Real Estate Business Law.

The parallel amendment of related laws is an opportunity to clearly and consistently define the scope of regulation of the laws. If the scope of regulation is not thoroughly resolved, it will lead to overlaps, conflicts, and inadequacies in implementation when the laws come into effect. The Government needs to carefully review to clearly define the scope of regulation of these laws.

In addition, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested that the draft law should clearly stipulate the conditions for the formation, purchase, and exchange of commercial housing to promote strengths and increase the ability of subjects to access and purchase this type of housing.

For social housing, this is a type of housing that the State needs to have certain priority policies on planning, construction, and taxes and fees.

With affordable housing, there needs to be partial priority from the State, with an appropriate approach to ensure the rights of the owners.

Dialogue - Amending the Housing Law: Ensuring housing for all citizens according to regulations (Figure 2). — National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue gave his opinion at the meeting.

Regarding housing development and management policies, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that the Party and State's policies as well as the Constitution's provisions are aimed at ensuring housing for every citizen. Ideally, every household should own a house or apartment, or at least ensure that households have housing and accommodation.

In Article 4 on housing development, management and use policies, it is necessary to include the Party's viewpoints and policies in the Housing Development Strategy into the content of the regulations. This is also an issue that many National Assembly deputies are interested in and have contributed comments on.

The National Assembly Chairman said that the drafting agency and the agency in charge of reviewing the law need to conduct thorough research, based on documents, Party policies, and State laws and policies, to have clear regulations in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.

Regarding the obligations of investors in social housing projects, the National Assembly Chairman said that the provision in Clause 6, Article 4 needs to be amended and supplemented to "The People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities (hereinafter referred to as provincial level) are responsible for planning and arranging land areas for the construction of social housing according to the provisions of this law and relevant laws" to ensure completeness, clarity and strictness.

Regarding the obligations of investors in commercial housing construction projects, the National Assembly Chairman requested that the drafting agency continue to carefully consider the content of the regulations related to reserving 20% of land fund for investment in social housing construction in commercial housing and urban area construction projects.

According to the National Assembly Chairman, law-making is carried out on the basis of inheriting and developing existing regulations that have been stably implemented in the law and proven by practice, but at the same time there are also more flexible adjustments, as proposed by the Law Committee.

Regarding land for building social housing, agreeing with Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue said that it should not be regulated in this law but should be regulated in the Land Law (amended).

The drafting agency and the reviewing agency need to conduct thorough research. If they cannot reach an agreement, they need to clearly present two options with objective arguments, clearly state the advantages and limitations, and carefully assess the impacts to seek opinions at the Conference of full-time National Assembly deputies, thereby submitting them to the National Assembly for further consideration and decision.

Regarding the form of social housing development, the National Assembly Chairman said that it is necessary to revise regulations to comply with relevant laws, especially the Enterprise Law and Investment Law .

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