Solutions to speed up housing support for meritorious people

Why is the disbursement rate low?

On April 26, 2013, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 22/2013/QD-TTg to support people with revolutionary contributions in housing. This is a major and practical policy of the Party and State to ensure the improvement of housing quality, stabilize life, and enhance the material and spiritual life of people with revolutionary contributions.

The supported household must be a household of revolutionary contributors recognized by a competent authority, currently living and having registered permanent residence in the locality before June 15, 2013.

After 5 years of implementing the policy, it has shown many advantages in improving the lives of meritorious people, however, after a long time of implementation, many shortcomings have occurred. Besides tens of thousands of households that have built and repaired houses, there are also many households whose documents have been approved, but whose houses are dilapidated, but cannot receive this support. "In reality, there are many reasons why meritorious people cannot access the policy," said Mr. Chu Anh Tuan - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction.

Groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a house of gratitude for veteran Nguyen Duc Huong in Ban hamlet, Nghi Thiet commune, Nghi Loc. Photo: Thu Hien

Currently, the whole province has 5,737 approved houses, accounting for 21.37%, that have not been built yet. In addition, there are 1,201 households removed from the project due to wrong approval of subjects, withdrawal requests, and duplicate lists. Many localities have low disbursement rates such as Tuong Duong (39.70%); Do Luong (59.02%), Dien Chau (63.51%); Quynh Luu (69.6%)... The common reason for all localities is that the project's benefit period is long, from the time of review until disbursement, so the list of subjects has many fluctuations.

In Dien Chau district, where 5,207 households benefited from the project, only 3,307 houses have been completed to date. Up to 1,596 houses could not be built in 2018 for various reasons. In addition, up to 500 households were in the wrong category, or withdrew their applications because their families did not have enough remaining self-funding; many households, after a long wait due to their damaged houses, had to pay in advance from other sources of support, and now find it very difficult to access support under this project.

Handing over gratitude house to war veteran Quynh Luu. Photo: Thanh Toan

Or like Quynh Luu, only 830/1,191 houses have been completed, reaching 69.6%. Of these, 70 households have withdrawn from the approved list or are not eligible. 40 households that were supported have passed away but their children are still living in that house; 39 households have received support from other sources. Mr. Nguyen Son Ha, Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Quynh Luu district, said: "We will disburse the funds to the policy households as soon as they are allocated to the locality, but because there are many problems arising during the implementation process, the locality cannot "decide for itself" so we have to wait for instructions."

Mr. Chu Anh Tuan - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction added: The refusal to receive support is happening in many localities, with many different reasons. In addition, many families have previously been approved for repairs, but while waiting for the disbursement of funds, their houses have seriously degraded and now want to rebuild, but according to the regulations in Decision 22, they cannot be adjusted. Or, in many localities, the number of subjects who want to rebuild their houses in a different location from the original location are also petitioning for adjustment to receive support. In addition, there are currently many families of meritorious people whose houses were not damaged at the time of the review, but are now seriously degraded, also petitioning to enjoy the policy.

Need to extend payment time

Mr. Ho Van Hoat's house in Hamlet 8 - Quynh Van Commune (Quynh Luu) has seriously degraded but there is not enough money to rebuild it this year. Photo: Thanh Nga

War invalid Ho Van Hoat, hamlet 8, Quynh Van commune, Quynh Luu district, is asking for an extension to rebuild his dilapidated house. In fact, despite their efforts, the local government is still having difficulty mobilizing additional support for him. His family is in dire need, and none of his relatives are well-off enough to support him in building a new house.

Mr. Hoat joined the army in 1969, after suffering the pressure of bombs and mines, his mind is no longer clear, he said: "Where can I get the money to build a house, my children are some alive and some are dead, and we are all poor so we cannot support anything. I know the government loves me but at the moment I don't know where to borrow money to build another house". Mr. Hoat is one of 14/47 approved households in Quynh Van commune who want to extend the construction time to 2019.

Currently, Quynh Luu district has up to 267 policy households that have not been supported to build or repair houses in 2018. "Because they do not meet the conditions to build houses this year, and according to the deadline specified in Decision 22/2013/QD - TTg, by December 31, 2018, households must complete new construction and repair of houses to receive full support funding," said Mr. Dang Minh Hoai - Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Quynh Luu district.

According to Mr. Hoai, many households have seriously degraded their houses, but for them, building a new house is "impossible" even though they have received 40 million VND from the State according to Decision 22. "Because in reality, to receive 40 million VND in support, they have to complete the house, and with current prices, the cheapest house costs from 100 - 150 million VND. Many households cannot mobilize funds and other sources of support, so even though they really want to have a new house, they cannot pour the foundation this year," said Mr. Nguyen Son Ha, Head of the Economic and Infrastructure Department.

Similarly, in Yen Thanh district, there are currently 146 households eligible for housing support, but they do not have enough funds to build or repair. Mr. Phan Thanh Cao, Head of Yen Thanh Economic - Infrastructure Department, said: “After we have eliminated all duplicate households, households that have withdrawn because they moved to live with their children, or have no need to repair or rebuild, there are many households that want to benefit from the policy, and in fact, through the survey, we see that this need is urgent. In addition to the households that have been counted, there are still dozens of households that were not initially on the approved list but now want to benefit from the policy because their houses are too dilapidated.”

The survey team of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation visited the family of Mr. Nguyen Canh Tuong, Block 13, Dung Town (Thanh Chuong), a 2/3 war invalid who received support to build a house. Photo: Document

Currently, the whole province has up to 5,737 households wishing to extend the progress of housing construction because in reality, up to this point, they have not been able to mobilize funds. Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs suggested: "The number of families that have not built in 2018 is too large and most of them have practical reasons, so we need to propose extending the disbursement time to the end of 2019, because otherwise many policy households will be very disadvantaged."

At the meeting on December 7, Mr. Thai Thanh Quy - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said: "The difficulties in the disbursement progress are close to reality, however, each locality needs to do it correctly and closely according to the regulations in Decision 22. In addition, households that are in need of extension or want to register for construction and repair, localities need to carefully review to have a plan to submit to the relevant levels for resolution", in addition, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also affirmed that sufficient funding will be allocated for construction for approved households.

Up to now, 18,844/26,846 houses have been completed (reaching a rate of 70.19%), Number of houses under construction: 2,265/26,846 (rate of 8.43%). Amount of money disbursed to support the subjects: 545,154.0 million VND/773,190.1 million VND, reaching a rate of 70.51%.

Each household approved for repair will receive 20 million VND; new construction will receive 40 million VND.