The Ministry of Construction is investigating the price gouging of social housing.
The Ministry of Construction announced that it will conduct inspections of real estate business activities, including price gouging in social housing projects.
Recently, a number of social housing projects have seen instances of people selling off their allocated units through "diplomatic" channels at inflated prices, sometimes hundreds of millions of dong higher than the official price.
At the Ministry of Construction's regular quarterly press conference for the first quarter of 2023, held on the afternoon of April 24th, Mr. Hoang Hai, Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction), stated that the Ministry had sent a document to the Departments of Construction in the provinces, advising on regulations for penalizing violations.
Currently, the conditions and procedures for buying and selling social housing are very strictly regulated. “According to the Ministry's plan, there will be a working trip to localities in the middle of this year, which will include activities related to real estate business. The Ministry will conduct inspections of real estate business activities, including the practice of selling at inflated prices in social housing projects,” Mr. Hai said.
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| The Ministry of Construction will investigate social housing projects that are being sold at inflated prices, sometimes exceeding the official markup by hundreds of millions of dong. |
Further discussing this issue, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh said that the Ministry has requested localities to review, inspect, and handle the matter to ensure compliance with regulations on the sale and purchase of social housing.
“In the coming period, the Ministry will continue to request localities to strengthen inspections and strictly handle violations to ensure the correct implementation of policies. We will not allow social housing policies to be exploited. In addition, we will implement a comprehensive set of solutions to promote construction and create new supply for the market,” Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh affirmed.
According to a report by the Ministry of Construction, in the first quarter of 2023, the whole country had 1 newly licensed social housing project with 300 apartments; 5 projects with 1,908 apartments eligible for sale as future housing; and 4 projects with 934 apartments completed construction.
The report also stated that 397 projects are currently underway, comprising 453,426 units. Of these, 152 projects with 153,426 units are under construction, and 245 projects with 300,000 units are undergoing investment procedures.
