Lack of housing makes workers reluctant to stay in the city

At the workshop “Housing issues for workers and migrant workers – Current situation and solutions” recently organized by the Institute for Urban Research and Infrastructure Development, experts commented that housing for workers, especially migrant workers in industrial zones, is still limited.

The rate of workers who can buy a house is still low.

Statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs show that up to now, the rate of workers in industrial parks who can buy or rent houses is still low. Specifically, as of May 2023, there were 398 industrial parks nationwide with about 7 million workers. Of which, more than 50% of workers have housing needs, but the rate of housing for workers working in industrial parks and export processing zones has only met about 30% of the demand.

Regarding this issue, Dr. Nhac Phan Linh, Deputy Director in charge of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions, shared that according to the 2024 survey data, 53.9% of migrant workers are living in rented rooms of level 4 houses, houses for rent, houses with corrugated iron or Fibro cement roofs. For level 4 rented rooms, although most of them are equipped with private bathrooms, the living space is very limited.

With a small usable area of ​​less than 30m2, or even less than 10m2, the houses do not have separate rooms for each individual, nor a separate study area for children. All activities including cooking, childcare, family activities and rest must take place in a single space.

According to MSc. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Trade Union Institution Project Management Board, currently, the capital source to serve the social housing development program for workers is still limited, difficult to access and does not meet the demand. Regarding the issue of land use fee exemption, home buyers and renters, and businesses themselves do not directly benefit from this policy. The 10% profit in social housing investment is not attractive enough... On the other hand, the issue of construction planning and project development only focuses on technical infrastructure works. The policy mechanism does not have decentralization of management and investment...

In particular, regarding prices, through local research, there are places where social housing and housing for workers are low but the quality is not guaranteed. Meanwhile, in other places, low-income workers and industrial park workers have difficulty accessing them because the prices are beyond their reach. The lack of housing is one of the reasons why workers are not interested in staying in the city.

Proposed planning solutions

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh assessed that to promote investment in building social housing for workers to rent, first of all, it is necessary to raise awareness among the political system, businesses, and workers about building social housing.

“Institutions and policies on social housing need to continue to be improved and amended appropriately in terms of land, investment capital, planning... In addition, we need to be more proactive and determined in implementing policies; promote the role of trade union organizations in research activities, propose new models of investment, management, and operation... At the same time, we need to carry out publicity and transparency well, focusing on inspection and supervision of the construction, leasing, and purchase of social housing for workers,” said a representative of the Trade Union Institution Project Management Board.

Also at the workshop, MSc. Architect Le Thi Thuy Ha, National Institute of Urban and Rural Planning, proposed a number of solutions for designing social housing for industrial park workers.

According to Ms. Thuy Ha, in reality, existing industrial parks are located in very diverse locations, with the principle that residential areas must connect workers with surrounding social institutions. Therefore, some planning solutions are needed.

In particular, regarding the solution of worker areas associated with urban areas, suburban industrial zones - far from urban areas, it is proposed to organize them into residential units that can be specialized or expanded. For industrial zones on the outskirts of urban areas, it is proposed to arrange housing for workers interspersed among units in new urban areas.

In addition, for the solution of worker housing areas attached to industrial parks and concentrated residential areas, the solution will be implemented as a residential area located within a land area with defined boundaries; it can be applied in industrial park groups with a limited labor force and far from urban residential areas.

As for the dispersed area, the solution is to divide it into many small groups around the industrial park, which can be applied in clean and high-tech industrial parks, general industrial and service parks near urban residential areas.

While residential areas are located along the route with the solution that residential areas are arranged along the traffic route symmetrically with the industrial park; it is possible to apply clean-technical industrial park groups, general industrial park groups and service parks located on traffic routes connecting to the urban area.

Experts believe that at present, when the Land Law 2024, Housing Law 2023 and Real Estate Business Law 2023 officially take effect from August 1, 2024, along with guiding documents under the law, it can be said that the policy to support social housing, housing for workers and laborers in industrial parks will create a relatively complete legal corridor, helping to support and encourage businesses to participate in the development of social housing and housing for workers.