At a recent conference on social housing development, Mr. Kien said if the housing purchase policies are paraphrased that every citizen must buy a home, it is difficult to implement these policies. He believes a new awareness is needed on this issue.
According to Mr. Ha Quang Hung, Deputy Director of Housing Management and Real Estate Market (under Ministry of Construction), as of the end of 2018, Vietnam has completed 198 social housing projects with total supply of more than 81,700 units, equivalent to about 4,085 sqm, only reaching 33% of the set target. It is expected that in near future, some 226 projects will be implemented, providing 182,200 units, equivalent to about 9,110 sqm of social housing.
This supply is too small compared to the continuously increasing demand over the years. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh, Deputy Minister of Construction, with the current urbanization rate, Vietnam will have an additional 1 million urban people every year, along with high demand for housing, mostly in affordable segment. Statistics shows at the beginning of 2018, the number of workers in industrial parks with demand for accommodation reached about 1.2 million, expected to soar to 3 million by 2020.
However, to solve the problem of low-cost housing needs, experts say, it is important to change the psychology of Vietnamese people, from trying to own a home into get an accommodation by renting.
According to Mr. Kien, it is not feasible to make each labourer buy a home, not only for Vietnam but also countries in the G7 group. The 2013 Vietnamese Constitution and promulgated legal documents such as the Law on Housing Law, Law on Housing Business do not stipulate that the Government should be responsible for creating conditions for citizens to own houses, but only to affirm that the Government facilitates citizens to get stable accommodation.
Thus, there must be a new awareness on this issue. Developers and local authorities are responsible for building a housing system that employees can hire during the working time in industrial zones and factories in the area. Priority should be given to the implementation of state-owned housing systems, then rent them to people at appropriate prices. Housing ownership is only for those who have average income and above.
