Bringing social housing to the right beneficiaries

Because currently, many people who are eligible to buy a house are having difficulty because their income is hardly enough to pay the interest and principal of the bank loan. On the contrary, those who are able to pay the interest and principal of the loan are not eligible to buy social housing. Therefore, the type of social housing for sale and rent - buying or renting - needs to be considered so that this segment reaches the right "destination" of beneficiaries.

Mr. Phan Duc Hieu, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Economic Committee commented: "Regarding the development of social housing, there should not be an approach that says "we should only" or "we only do". In my opinion, we should approach it in many ways and from many angles as long as the final result is to support the people. We need to change our perception of social housing".

Accordingly, Mr. Phan Duc Hieu said that currently, the opinion of some experts is that it is reasonable to rent out social housing. However, besides social housing for rent, there is also social housing for sale. At that time, those who have enough capacity to buy will buy, those who do not have enough will rent.

The Land Law (amended) has two approaches to land funds. That is, the State takes over or investors search and purchase. Therefore, to have land funds for social housing, the first approach is the State takes over. This is the advantage of social housing over commercial housing, helping to lower the cost after adding other support policies.

From a business perspective, Mr. Le Huu Nghia, Director of Le Thanh Construction Trading Company Limited, analyzed that in the past few years, social housing prices have increased rapidly, while the income bracket remains low, leading to home buyers having to use more than half of their monthly income for bank loans. This is unreasonable and makes it difficult for low-income people to settle down.

Mr. Le Huu Nghia proposed: The Government can consider raising the income requirement to 20 million VND/month to still be eligible to buy social housing for those living in special urban areas such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City instead of setting a common level for the whole country.

Currently, the old regulation is an average income of 11 million VND/month and the level below 15 million VND/month according to the draft Decree on development and management of social housing, which is being consulted by the Ministry of Construction from agencies, units, organizations and people.

In fact, the cost of living in these two big cities is very expensive and there is a clear difference with other provinces and cities across the country. At the same time, it is necessary to create openness in the issue of approving procedures and documents for people to enjoy the social housing purchase regime - Mr. Nghia raised the issue.

In addition, there should be support for investors to develop social housing, only then will there be a new supply of housing brought to the market. In fact, the current supply of housing in big cities is scarce, not meeting the housing needs, especially low-cost housing of the people.

Faced with the difficulties facing social housing buyers, experts say that in Vietnam, most low-income workers can only afford to rent a house, while investors aim to sell apartments. The process of approving buyers, renters, and rent-to-own social housing is still loose and depends on investors, so sometimes it is not the right target, causing housing prices to be pushed up, "deviating" the humane policy of the State.

Therefore, it is appropriate for the State to invest in social housing for rent or lease-purchase. It will be difficult for tenants to take advantage of the policy, while there have been cases of buying and reselling to make a profit from social housing. If the State can build a housing fund for rent, it will retain assets for future residents, without having to build more houses; at the same time, there will still be a housing fund to stabilize when the real estate market fluctuates.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Real Estate Association affirmed: The viewpoint of the Party and State is to ensure that all people have housing. The psychology of the majority of Vietnamese people is to own their own home.

However, it is also necessary to develop housing for rent, especially social housing. Currently, the income gap is quite large, so it is necessary to consider the option of building houses for rent instead of buying and selling to ensure the diverse needs of the people.

International experience shows that many countries have built social housing for rent. In many developed countries, notably Germany, rental housing is the main type of housing in this country - Mr. Ha cited.

According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha, the development of social housing should be in the direction of more rental housing, increasing the proportion to 30-40% will solve the housing problem. The State should encourage businesses and people to invest in rental housing because people still have a lot of money but only know how to deposit it in the bank while rental housing is also a potential channel and solves the housing problem.

In countries, the proportion of rental housing is increased through Real Estate Investment Trusts - REITs. When investing in this channel, people's assets are still there, profits may be a little lower but safe and sustainable.