Due to supply not meeting demand, the dream of having social housing for many low-income people in Hai Duong is still quite distant.
Hai Duong currently has 4 housing projects for low-income people in urban areas that have been implemented, of which 3 projects have been completed. In the photo: Social housing area in the new urban area of Tue Tinh
Hai Duong has paid attention to allocating land funds for building social housing, however, the number of completed projects put into use is currently very small, not meeting the housing needs of low-income people in urban areas.
Supply does not meet demand
Recently, the People's Committee of Hai Duong City has screened 96,142 people in 9 groups of beneficiaries of social housing support policies. Through the screening, there are 2,621 people in need of renting or buying social housing. According to the People's Committee of Hai Duong City, among the people in need of buying and renting social housing that have been screened, the city has a policy of arranging social housing to stabilize the lives of 353 cases. The remaining cases do not have social housing to arrange. The city still needs about 2,268 more social houses to arrange for those in need of buying and renting.
People who need to rent or buy social housing in Hai Duong City are mainly poor households, low income, unstable jobs and living in damaged and degraded housing areas. For low-income households who need to rent or buy social housing, what they care about most is the price and the loan support policy to buy a house. However, most of them think that the current rental and purchase prices are too high compared to their income.
As one of the households living in the B4 Binh Minh apartment complex that is eligible to be transferred to a social housing apartment in the residential area east of Ngo Quyen, Ms. Vu Thi Khuyen is concerned: “In the old apartment complex, my family only had to pay 150,000 VND/month for rent. But when we moved to the social housing area east of Ngo Quyen, we were very worried because the rent was high, about 1 million VND/month, not to mention other fees. This amount is too much compared to my meager pension.”
Not only is the social housing rental price high, but buying social housing is also very difficult for many low-income people. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son and his wife, from Cam Che commune (Thanh Ha), are workers in a garment company in Hai Duong city. They have just borrowed money to buy a social housing house in the Nhi Chau ward housing project for more than 1 billion VND. According to Mr. Son, this price is high compared to the income of workers. Because each month, he and his wife earn about 20 million VND, after deducting living expenses and raising 2 children, they only have less than 10 million VND left. In addition, Mr. Son does not know the procedures to buy social housing directly from the investor but has to buy it through someone else, so the purchase price has been pushed higher. This is also the situation of many households buying social housing.
To solve the social housing problem in the area, the People's Committee of Hai Duong City has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee direct relevant departments and branches to review all commercial housing development projects with social housing land funds that have been assigned to investors without assigning responsibility for implementing social housing investment and construction, handing over the social housing land funds to Hai Duong City for management and calling on investors to implement.
People in need of renting or buying social housing in Hai Duong City are mainly low-income households living in degraded housing areas.
Many reasons
According to the report of the Department of Construction, the province has implemented the regulation on allocating 20% of social housing land fund in commercial housing development projects in urban areas from type III and above with 55.76 hectares of social housing land of 25 projects in the province. From 2010 to now, the Provincial People's Committee has agreed to allow the implementation of 4 housing projects for low-income people in urban areas, of which 3 projects have been completed with a total construction floor area of about 98,200 m2, a scale of 1,137 apartments, all in Hai Duong City. Specifically, the Tue Tinh social housing project in the Tue Tinh new urban area, the social housing project in the residential area east of Ngo Quyen and the social housing project in the social housing project in the new urban area south of Hai Duong city (sub-area 2) have completed 43 low-rise houses and are preparing to invest in the construction of 4 8-storey buildings; the social housing project in the Nhi Chau ward residential area project has 3 15-storey buildings with a scale of 619 completed units and is reviewing eligible subjects to buy and rent-purchase the second phase.
There are many reasons why investors are not interested in building social housing. A representative of Hudic Housing and Infrastructure Development Investment Joint Stock Company said that the preferential policies on land, finance, credit, and investment are still limited. The capital for investment in building social housing is large, but the capital recovery period is long and the profit is low, the risk is high, while the preferential loan capital for developing social housing is limited, not meeting the actual demand. In addition, there is still a lot of land in the province, the current price of social housing is quite high, many people will prioritize buying land.
To promote the development of social housing in the province in the coming time, in addition to proposing to improve the mechanism and policies for social housing development, it is necessary to accelerate the implementation of social housing projects under commercial housing projects that have completed site clearance. Consider allowing a pilot development of social housing for rent to solve housing for those who cannot afford to buy or rent according to market mechanisms...
PV