Prime Minister approves project of 1 million social housing apartments

By 2030, the total number of apartments completed by localities is expected to be about 1,062,200.

The project aims to develop social housing and worker housing at prices suitable for the affordability of middle- and low-income households in urban areas and of workers and laborers in industrial parks and export processing zones.

The State encourages economic sectors to develop housing to create conditions for everyone to have accommodation according to the market mechanism, meeting all people's needs, and at the same time has policies to support housing for social policy beneficiaries, low-income people and the poor who have housing difficulties in order to contribute to political stability, ensure social security and develop urban and rural areas in a civilized and modern direction.

By 2030, the total number of apartments completed in localities is expected to be about 1,062,200. Of which, the 2021-2025 period will complete about 428,000 apartments; the 2025-2030 period will complete about 634,200 apartments.

When planning, it is necessary to clearly define the land area reserved for building social housing.

To promote the development of social housing and workers' housing in the coming time, the Ministry of Construction has proposed a number of solutions, including continuing to improve institutions and laws on social housing for low-income people and industrial park workers.

Specifically, research and develop a draft Resolution of the National Assembly to pilot a number of policies to promote the development of social housing and amend the 2014 Housing Law in line with the Land Law (amended), the Bidding Law (amended), tax laws and guiding legal documents, including amending the policy mechanisms on social housing.

Regarding the allocation of land for social housing and housing for workers, amending and supplementing regulations on land reserved for social housing development in the direction that when establishing and approving urban planning, rural construction planning, industrial park development planning, and training and research areas, the People's Committee with the authority to approve the planning must plan and clearly determine the land area reserved for social housing construction within the province and district levels; ensuring that the land fund reserved for social housing development is consistent with the Planning, land use plan, Program, and housing development plan of the locality in each period; considering the social housing development target as a 5-year and annual socio-economic development target of the locality.

Supplementing regulations on planning and arranging land funds for the development of workers' accommodation in the direction that when establishing and approving industrial park planning, land funds must be arranged in the commercial service land area of ​​the industrial park to build accommodation, service works, and public utilities to serve workers working at enterprises in that industrial park.

Implementing a credit program of about 120,000 billion VND

Regarding credit for social housing development, identifying investment in social housing development for low-income workers as an investment item in the medium- and long-term capital sources of the locality.

Amend and supplement regulations on capital sources for housing development through regulations on new capital sources and optimize current capital sources to limit dependence on capital sources from the state budget; in the direction of: adding capital mobilization from local development investment funds to develop social housing, limiting the purpose of using state budget capital for infrastructure development in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Public Investment, supplementing forms of capital mobilization from abroad to develop social housing.

In the immediate future, focus on coordinating with the State Bank of Vietnam to implement the Credit Program of about VND 120,000 billion and specific credit packages to lend to investors and home buyers of social housing projects and workers' housing projects at interest rates about 1.5 - 2% lower than the average medium and long-term VND lending interest rate of state-owned commercial banks (including Agribank, BIDV, Vietcombank, Vietinbank) in the market in each period and non-state commercial banks that are qualified for each specific credit package according to the direction in Resolution No. 33/NQ-CP dated March 11, 2023 of the Government.

Regarding the selection of investors for social housing construction projects in the direction of encouraging socialized investment, amend and supplement regulations on the selection of investors for social housing construction projects in a unified and synchronous manner with other relevant laws (investment, public investment, construction, land, bidding).

Supplementing regulations on selecting investors for projects to build workers' accommodation in the direction that enterprises doing business in industrial park infrastructure are assigned to simultaneously be investors in building infrastructure for workers' accommodation. After completing the investment in infrastructure for workers' accommodation, Level I investors can invest in building accommodation themselves or hand it over to the Provincial Industrial Park Management Board, to transfer land with infrastructure to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor or manufacturing enterprises in industrial parks, enterprises with housing business functions (level II investors) to invest in building accommodation for workers.

Amending and supplementing regulations on incentives for Investors to be more substantial

Amending and supplementing regulations on incentives for Investors to be more substantial, in the direction that the 20% of commercial land area in social housing projects is accounted for separately, not included in the whole project; reasonable and valid costs in the process of investing and trading in social housing are accounted for in the cost price.

Amend the law on value added tax and corporate income tax so that investors in projects building social housing for rent will receive more value added tax and corporate income tax reductions than in the case of building social housing for rent or sale.

Amending regulations that social housing projects must reserve at least 20% of the social housing area in the project for rent and investors can only sell after 5 years of putting into use, in the direction of not requiring investors to reserve housing funds for rent, the business plan (sale, rent, hire purchase) is decided by the investor.

Beneficiaries of social housing policy

Regarding beneficiaries of social housing policies, workers are separated into a separate group, including: Workers, laborers, and experts working at enterprises in industrial parks, industrial clusters, export processing zones, high-tech zones (hereinafter referred to as industrial parks) and manufacturing enterprises in industrial parks; there are separate policies and mechanisms to develop accommodation for workers to rent.

Supplementing beneficiaries are enterprises that buy, rent, or hire-purchase social housing for employees at their rental units.

Need to focus and prioritize credit for lending to social housing projects and worker housing

Regarding solutions for organizing and implementing social housing and worker housing projects, for ministries and branches, continue to review and identify existing problems, difficulties and obstacles; determine the causes, and then propose solutions; first of all, focus on immediately amending normative documents under the authority of the Government, ministries, branches and localities to ensure consistency, transparency, thorough decentralization, and shortening administrative procedures...

To ensure the goal of developing social housing by 2030, about VND 849,500 billion is needed, mainly from socialized capital, to complete the goal set by 2030 of completing 1,062,200 social housing apartments and workers' housing. Therefore, it is necessary to focus and prioritize credit to lend to social housing projects and workers' housing to ensure social security.

In the process of policy development, research proposes to issue policies in the direction of post-audit (selling price, subjects, conditions, etc.).

Urgently complete the establishment, revision and supplementation of local housing development programs and plans.

The People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities urgently complete the establishment, amendment and supplementation of the Housing Development Program and Plan of localities, in which clarify the goals of social housing for low-income people and industrial park workers to be consistent with the National Housing Development Strategy for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2045, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 2161/QD-TTg dated December 22, 2021, as a basis for approving investment projects.

Local leaders must identify this as their personal political task; establish and approve specific implementation plans for investment in social housing projects for each year and each phase from now until 2030 to ensure local needs. At the same time, there must be solutions to accelerate investment in construction of projects being implemented, projects with investment policies, or planning, arrangement and publicizing cleared land funds for the development of social housing and workers' housing for businesses to pay attention and propose projects. Ensure that by 2030, at least 1 million apartments nationwide will be completed for investment.

Localities must be responsible for publicizing and introducing land funds for social housing investment to businesses for research and investment proposals; balancing and allocating local budgets to encourage and provide additional incentives to call on economic sectors to participate in investing in social housing development within the locality.