Social housing: Waiting for funding support

The Ministry of Construction has just proposed to continue allocating capital for the social housing program, because this is an important policy that has been directed by the Party and the State. In fact, social housing meets the real needs of the real estate market, suitable for the income level of workers and low-income people in urban areas, which are areas with housing difficulties.

According to the document sent to the Government Office, the Ministry of Construction affirmed that the policy of supporting the development of social housing is an important policy that has been identified in the documents of the 12th National Party Congress; and has been persistently directed by the Government in recent years. In fact, up to now, 145 projects, with a scale of 58,500 apartments, have been completed; but there are also 174 projects, with a scale of 139,300 apartments, with a total investment of 56,800 billion VND, being implemented.

For completed projects, most home buyers are entitled to support policies from the 30,000 billion VND credit package with preferential interest rates, and have signed commitment contracts before March 31, 2016. There are 139,300 apartments under construction, most of which have not yet reached the capital mobilization stage (according to regulations, the foundation must be completed). Therefore, beneficiaries of social housing support and enterprises investing in social housing construction are waiting for new sources of support capital according to the provisions of the Housing Law and Decree 100/2015/ND-CP of the Government on management and development of social housing. If there is no source of capital for implementation, it will greatly affect social security policies. On the other hand, unfinished projects are difficult to continue; low-income people have difficulty accessing housing; and the settlement of real estate inventory is affected to a certain extent.

Illustration: Source Internet

Previously, the Prime Minister assigned the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to provide preferential loans for social housing with an interest rate of 4.8%/year, according to the provisions of Decree 100/2015/ND-CP. However, the source of capital provided to the bank for implementation is currently unclear, although in response to the press, the bank's leaders affirmed that they have ready human resources and business processes to implement. Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Construction said that, based on the provisions of the Housing Law and Decree 100, it is necessary to balance and arrange central budget capital to compensate for interest rates as requested by the State Bank and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, in order to soon implement social housing support according to regulations.

The Ministry of Construction cited: Article 74 of the 2014 Housing Law stipulates that "The State supports preferential loans with low interest rates and long-term loan terms, through providing capital from the budget to the Social Policy Bank, to implement target programs on housing and social housing construction. The Social Policy Bank is allowed to mobilize savings deposits of households and individuals who need to buy or hire-purchase social housing to lend to these subjects with preferential interest rates after a certain period of savings". Also according to the Ministry of Construction, mobilizing capital sources other than the budget for social housing is not feasible, due to high interest rates, short loan terms, while the beneficiaries are poor households, near-poor households and low-income people.

In the latest report, the Ministry of Construction said that it continues to implement solutions to promote the real estate market to develop in a stable and sustainable direction, focusing on social housing development programs. In addition to housing projects, the country is implementing 63 worker housing projects, with a scale of 69,300 apartments. It is expected that from now until the end of the year, 7 more student housing projects will be completed and put into use. According to Deputy Minister of Construction Do Duc Duy, the development of social housing and low-cost housing not only overcomes the imbalance between supply and demand in the market, meeting the real housing needs of society, but also has the power to spread and warm up other housing segments.

Commenting on the social housing segment, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo said that the 2013 Constitution affirmed the people's right to housing; this is the constitutional basis, the foundation for the 2014 Housing Law. Many important adjustments to develop social housing were included in the Housing Law, such as beneficiaries not only social housing projects but also low-income people who need to renovate their houses. From the policy adjustments, the number of people benefiting from the 30,000 billion VND package increased, the housing supply increased. Also according to Mr. Dang Hung Vo, the urbanization process has only reached about 30%, in the future it must be completed to 70%, or even higher. This process means an increase in the urban population and labor force, so the demand for housing is very large. In Hanoi alone, according to the housing development plan, in the period of 2016-2020, it is expected to build 4.67 million square meters of social housing. On average, from 2016 to 2019, about 950,000 square meters will be built each year; in 2020, 876,000 square meters of social housing will be built.

According to Hanoi Moi