Creating suitable land funds to build housing for low-income people

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of December 7, Politburo member and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a national online conference on social housing for low-income people.

Attending the conference were Deputy Prime Ministers Trinh Dinh Dung and Vu Duc Dam, along with ministries and leaders of 63 provinces and cities at the connecting points. In Nghe An, Mr. Huynh Thanh Dien, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the connecting point with the participation of a number of departments and branches.

Online bridge in Nghe An.

Developing social housing is a major policy of the Government and the Ministry of Construction to create conditions for low-income workers to access buying and renting housing, contributing to ensuring social security.

Most localities have implemented this policy, however, this field still faces many difficulties and problems that need to be resolved synchronously. That was the issue raised by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc when the online meeting began.

Social housing prices are still high, while the accumulated income of the poor and workers is low. Illustrative photo.

Up to now, the whole country has invested in building 179 housing projects for low-income people, with a scale of 71,150 apartments and is continuing to implement 191 projects with 163,800 apartments. Along with that, there are 95 housing projects for students in 29 localities. During the implementation process, the Government and localities have provided active support.

In Nghe An, 4 social housing projects have been completed and 2 other projects are being implemented with a total of 656 apartments, with preferential prices ranging from 6.6 to 8.8 million VND/m2. In addition, there are 4 social housing projects for students, creating accommodation for over 4,500 students. However, the housing demand of low-income people is still very large, while implementation is difficult because investors are not interested in this type, apartment prices are still high, apartment designs are not suitable... Up to now, Nghe An has not yet implemented any housing projects for industrial park workers. The Provincial People's Committee is continuing to propose solutions to support businesses investing in this field.

The comrades presided at the bridge point in Nghe An.

Within the framework of the conference, representatives of many provinces and cities participated in giving opinions, clearly analyzing the situation, proposing solutions to continue implementing social housing projects, focusing on housing areas for workers in economic zones and industrial parks. "The demand for housing is very large, up to 80% of people in need need support to be able to take care of housing for their families, only 20% of people are able to take care of and pay for their own housing choices" - Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung expressed his opinion.

A representative of Binh Duong province, where many industrial parks are operating, said that the locality has implemented 25 projects, with over 180,000 apartments, meeting the needs of consumers, but due to high prices, most workers rent houses, and purchasing power is low because workers' incomes are not enough to save up to buy houses. Therefore, some projects are behind schedule. Binh Duong province also compiled opinions from businesses to recommend that the State have more preferential loan packages for investors building social housing. This is also a proposal from many localities.

The Prime Minister chaired a national online meeting on housing for low-income people. Photo courtesy of SGGP.

Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly appreciated the participation of ministries, branches and localities. The Prime Minister welcomed a number of corporations that have recently launched low-cost commercial housing packages, contributing to supporting localities in solving the housing needs of low-income workers.

However, the construction of social housing has not met the needs of the people. To solve this problem, the core is that each locality needs to arrange suitable land funds, avoiding being too far from the center, urban areas, places where businesses and industrial zones are concentrated. At the same time, provinces need to actively support investors in building infrastructure for social housing areas such as roads, electricity, water and accompanying services. Provinces and cities also need to strengthen planning and appropriate planning management to promote the value of social housing in the overall picture.

Workers also need to strive harder and save up to be able to buy houses at preferential prices; they must understand that the social housing policy of the Party and State is to support the poor and low-income workers, but that does not mean subsidy.

The Prime Minister also assigned the ministries and branches after the consultation meeting to the Government to issue a new directive on social housing construction, considering this the responsibility of the Government, ministries, branches, localities and the whole society. The Prime Minister also noted that investors must follow the motto: "Housing for low-income people but the quality must not be low".

Nguyen Nguyen