New policy points, along with flexibility in investment procedures, are considered the levers to create a breakthrough in social housing development in Ho Chi Minh City.
On November 21, speaking at the seminar "Social housing: Breakthrough from new policies" organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Pham Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Head of the Social Housing Department - Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction), informed about some new points in the social housing development policy.
Breakthrough from policy
According to Ms. Ha, the Housing Law 2023 is a breakthrough when emphasizing the role of local authorities in planning and allocating land funds for social housing development, in line with the Investment Law at all stages from policy to identifying investors. Provincial People's Committees proactively identify land funds from commercial projects, non-projects, or through payment to ensure responsibility for social housing development.
The law also expands investment forms, encourages the development of worker accommodation and housing for the armed forces, and increases incentives for investors. Specifically, investors are exempted from land use fees, enjoy a profit rate of 10%, and can use 20% of the project area for commercial purposes, in accordance with the approved policy.
In addition, the law adds the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and enterprises with foreign direct investment (FDI) to the list of social housing investors. The beneficiaries are expanded, allowing enterprises and cooperatives to rent social housing to relax residence and income conditions when buying or renting social housing. The maximum income for beneficiaries is also increased, flexible for each subject, especially for the armed forces.
A breakthrough is capital, when allowing investors and people to borrow from banks to build, repair or buy social housing, creating a great driving force for project development. These changes, along with the project to build 1 million social housing units and the National Assembly's upcoming supervision resolution, are expected to soon put the policy into practice, developing sustainable social housing.
From the business perspective, Mr. Tran Quoc Dung, Deputy General Director of Hung Thinh Corporation, agrees with the new breakthrough policies for social housing, but he also hopes that the authorities will speed up procedures to shorten the time and reduce costs for investors; creating conditions for investors to access land funds. In addition, investors with land funds who want to do social housing projects but are in accordance with the planning need the authorities to respond, resolve the planning compliance issue, and approve the investment policy to soon implement the project.
Mr. Truong Anh Tuan, Chairman of Hoang Quan Group, suggested that beneficial policies such as loan interest rates for businesses and home buyers should be retroactively applied. In addition, there should be a mechanism for investors with clean land funds who want to build social housing, that the land price, including tax, must be included in the cost price.
Mr. Le Huu Nghia, Director of Le Thanh Real Estate Company, said that businesses want clearer regulations for smooth implementation, while avoiding inconsistencies between the old and new laws in the post-audit stage of developing social housing projects. Regarding credit capital, banks have provided very good support for loans, but the problem lies in whether the project procedures are approved or not. Without transparency and clarity, encouraging investment in social housing in the future will face many difficulties.
Representatives of the Editorial Board and delegates exchanged on the sidelines of the discussion organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, November 21. Photo: HOANG TRIEU
Simplify procedures, increase incentives
From a management perspective, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan, Deputy Head of the Department of Housing Development and Real Estate Market - Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, agreed with the need to shorten investment procedures. He said that recently, the Department of Construction has compiled opinions from units, proposing to integrate the 3 current investment procedure steps at the Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Planning and Architecture, Department of Natural Resources and Environment to shorten the time, then the Department of Construction carries out the construction permit procedures.
According to Mr. Huynh Trinh Phong, Head of Planning and Legal Management Department - Department of Planning and Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City, currently the city has 2 land funds for social housing projects: 20% land fund in commercial housing projects with remaining debt, the second is the land fund that social housing investors find, buy, transfer or apply for project investment.
Currently, the city is orienting the arrangement of updated social housing projects and integrating them into the zoning plan. A new step forward is to clearly define the location and specific targets, without the need to adjust local planning or coefficients.
Mr. Phong also recommended that the city review the land fund that has not fulfilled its social housing obligations, which is the 20% land fund in the commercial housing project; find other suitable replacement locations; put public land into the social housing land fund, introduce it to investors; recommend that the city set up a website specializing in social housing for those in need to look up and publicly announce the project so that people can easily access and choose.
Mr. Tran Quang Thang, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Economic and Management Research, hopes that the Government and ministries and sectors need to make stronger breakthroughs in promoting social housing development policies. This not only requires innovative thinking but also requires the cooperation of the community to turn this humane policy into reality. In addition, departments and sectors at the city level need to speed up the processing of investment procedures, creating a more favorable environment for projects. At the same time, encourage the participation of local experts and organizations in contributing ideas, building policies and proposing appropriate solutions.
Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper thanks Vietcombank for accompanying the discussion "Social housing: Breakthrough from new policies".
Solving difficulties with many specific solutions
Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong said that in the process of implementing social housing development, Ho Chi Minh City encountered many difficulties and problems in almost all stages, from construction planning, land procedures, determining financial obligations, to determining social housing prices. Land allocation, calling for investment and mobilizing other financial resources to implement the project were also major problems.
Faced with the above bottlenecks, the city has implemented many specific solutions to remove difficulties and speed up progress. Regarding planning, Ho Chi Minh City is urgently submitting to the Prime Minister for approval the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan to 2030, with a vision to 2050. Another very important task is to urgently complete the preparation of the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan Adjustment Project. Currently, the city is focusing on completing it to submit to the Prime Minister in November.
On that basis, the city will specify the zoning plan, clearly identify locations for social housing, thereby prioritizing the development of new areas or reusing old locations, ensuring legality of planning during the construction process.
Regarding investment, the process of approving policies and recognizing investors for social housing projects is still complicated, requiring the coordination of many departments and sectors. To solve this problem, Ho Chi Minh City has established a special working group headed by a leader of the Department of Planning and Investment. This group will focus on solving investment-related issues, shortening the time to process documents and collecting inter-sectoral opinions.
Regarding land, social housing projects are exempted from land use fees but it is still necessary to speed up the completion of land allocation procedures and allow the conversion of land use purposes from agricultural land to non-agricultural land to implement the project.
In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has assigned the Department of Construction to coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation to promote the construction of social housing, especially rental and hire-purchase housing models, to meet the great needs of workers and laborers.
Focus on developing rental housing
Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, said that developing social housing for rent should be considered the main direction. A recent survey showed that the demand for social housing for rent by workers and laborers is much higher than the demand for buying. This is suitable for the financial capacity and living conditions of the majority of workers.
According to Mr. Chau, to promote social housing development, it is necessary to focus on core factors such as land fund, credit support and simplification of investment procedures. Land purchase costs need to be calculated correctly and sufficiently, and loan interest rates should be reduced to create more favorable conditions. Social housing development, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, is an urgent task, requiring the cooperation and support of the whole society to achieve the set goals.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/tim-don-bay-de-phat-trien-nha-o-xa-hoi-196241121223038311.htm
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