Vietnam home to 513 social housing projects for workers

An archirectural drawing of a social housing project in Da Nang city (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Vietnam has 513 social housing projects for workers, 249 of which with 5.2 million sq.m of floor area are completed, or 41.7 percent of the plan, according to figures from the Ministry of Construction.

Meanwhile, 264 other projects with total floor area of around 10.95 million sq.m are under construction.

Deputy Construction Minister Nguyen Van Sinh said the target under the national housing strategy has not been fulfilled, with a shortage of funding one of the main reasons.

The ministry has proposed amendments to Decree 100/2015/ND-CP to address the problems, and is working with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour on a project to bolster trade union institutions at industrial and export processing parks, the Deputy Minister said.

The Bank for Social Policy has so far received some 2.16 trillion VND out of a total of 9 trillion VND (388.36 million USD) to disburse for such projects this year, or just 24 percent, while four commercial banks appointed by the State to provide subsidised loans have not received any capital.

Many localities and businesses are yet to pay due regard to social housing, Sinh pointed out.

He added that developers are not interested in social housing projects as incentives are not attractive enough.

Real estate has been among the leading sectors in attracting FDI, analysts said, and real estate products are growing in terms of variety.

Demand will continue to rise to 2030, especially in urban areas, due to economic and population growth, and around 70 million square metres of urban housing is needed every year.

But there are too many luxury property products and not enough social housing for low-income earners despite there being more demand for the latter.