>>> Government promotes low-income earners’ access to social housing
The PM chaired a national teleconference held jointly by the Government and the Office of the Ministry of Construction on December 7 to review the development of social housing and to make plans for its future.
Statistics presented at the conference showed that the State’s social housing policy has yielded significant results in recent years, providing 3.7 million m2 of accommodation for almost 500,000 low-income earners and workers in urban areas and industrial zones (IZs), while millions of poor households in rural areas and areas frequently affected by natural disasters have safe and stable housing.
At the same time, promoting social housing development has contributed significantly to real estate restructuring and adjusting supply and demand, helping to stabilise the real estate market.
At the meeting, Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung, who is also Head of the Central Steering Committee on Housing and Real Estate Market Policy, stressed that social housing development is an investment channel to support the domestic industry with the highest rate of localisation.
Deputy PM Dung suggested reviewing all construction planning to integrate urban planning with housing development, including social housing. He urged local authorities to develop annual medium-term plans for the issue on the basis of surveys and assessments of how much the people can afford.
He also proposed that they create favourable conditions in which for businesses to attract investment in this field, particularly in administrative procedures and infrastructure investment.
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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks during the conference. (Credit: VGP)
PM Phuc stated that after the event, he would immediately issue a directive on social housing development and, on that basis, enact local development of social housing programmes.
The government leader said to continue perfecting the legal basis for social housing, considering it as an investment for future growth, while encouraging investors to invest in such projects to solve the urgent needs of around 1.5 million people without housing, especially in IZs.
Relevant central agencies and business communities should mobilise resources for housing development, especially social housing, and include it in IZ planning, he said, adding that the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank should continue to map out solutions on credit and taxes to exploit the medium and long term resources from the society to diminishing resources from the State budget for this policy.
He also asked to continue to improve the quality of social housing and to form a synchronous IZ with cultural institutions with various rental and commercial housing products, of which perhaps 50% would be purchased by workers under the social housing format.
| Since 2009, the country has completed 179 social housing projects with 71,150 apartments at a total investment of VND25.9 trillion for low-income people in urban areas and workers in IZs. Currently, the local authorities are continuing to implement 191 projects with about 163,800 apartments at a total investment of about VND71.8 trillion. During the 2013-2016 period, 80,000 households have received financial support in the social housing policy with funds allocated from the State budget worth about VND2.5 trillion. By the end of November 2016, local governments had completed providing support for 91,302 households, while 6,800 households are due to receive assistance. |
