Social housing development to meet working people’s demands

In order to meet the social housing needs for workers and low-income individuals, Binh Duong province plans to allocate approximately 136.1 hectares of land and strive to invest in completing 42,445 social housing units to meet the needs of over 138,300 residents during the period of 2021-2025. The total investment for social housing in this phase is estimated at around 23,817 billion VND.

Binh Duong encourages businesses to invest in social housing construction. In the photo: social housing seen in Dinh Hoa as invested by Becamex IDC

Government norms nearly doubled

During 2016-2021, the entire province had 17 projects and 1 social housing project invested with a total floor area of 1.33 million m2. According to the representative of the Department of Construction, by 2021, investors had built and put into use over 1.8 million square meters of social housing floor area. However, this result has not yet met the housing needs of workers and low-income people in the province. The reason is that businesses operating in the province have not paid much attention to the development of housing types; some investors, when implementing commercial housing projects, new urban areas, have allocated land funds for the construction of social housing but have been slow in implementation. In addition, currently, workers still have difficulty accessing capital loans from the Social Policy Bank to buy social housing.

Currently, there are 65 social housing projects being implemented in the province, expected to be completed in the period 2021-2025. In the housing development program of Binh Duong province in the period 2021-2030, the Government has assigned a target of developing 86,877 houses. However, due to high demand for social housing, Binh Duong strives to invest in constructing a higher number of houses than the assigned target by the government. Accordingly, the Social Housing Development Project of the province for the period 2021-2025, with a vision until 2030, Binh Duong sets a target of allocating about 136.1 hectares of land and investing in completing about 42,445 social housing units, meeting the needs of about 138,326 people, with a total investment of about 23,817 billion VND. In the period 2026-2030, the province will allocate about 334.3 hectares of land and invest in completing about 117,880 social housing units, meeting the needs of about 414,132 people, with a total investment of about 60,939 billion VND.

Binh Duong sets a target nearly double that of the Government's assigned target, explained by Mr. Vo Van Minh, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, stating that Binh Duong sets a high target based on the actual needs of the labor force. Along with that, Binh Duong has favorable conditions in terms of land fund and the attention of investors. More importantly, from August 1, 2024, the Housing Law, the Real Estate Business Law of 2023 will come into effect, opening up many advantages for investors to access land funds, access capital; workers are more convenient in borrowing preferential loans to buy social housing.

Investors encouraged to dive in social housing construction

In recent years, Binh Duong has clearly identified the role and importance of social housing development, contributing to ensuring social security and promoting the socio-economic development of the locality. Binh Duong continuously improves the quality of social housing in terms of safety, convenience, and full amenities for users. At the same time, Binh Duong always encourages and creates favorable conditions for businesses to invest in social housing construction.

Mr. Vo Van Minh, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that in order to effectively implement the Social Housing Development Project of the province for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030, for state-owned land funds of state-owned enterprises, the province will assign these enterprises to carry out the construction of social housing. In recent years, Becamex IDC Corporation has been a pioneering unit in building social housing in the province. For real estate investment enterprises, the province requires investors to implement the construction of social housing according to regulations. For the existing land fund of enterprises, the province encourages investors to build social housing. In 2023, many social housing projects have been implemented by enterprises.

Mr. Vo Van Minh added that in the coming time, Binh Duong will continue to build industrial zones and clusters. The province requires investors in these industrial zones and clusters to prepare land funds for social housing construction. This is a necessary condition for the province to select investors to build industrial zones and clusters.

Mr. Vuong Duy Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Management, Ministry of Construction: The Prime Minister is very interested and has instructed the Ministry of Construction to coordinate with other ministries, sectors, and localities to create favorable conditions for the development of social housing. The Ministry of Construction is leading the construction of a streamlined process for administrative procedures in selecting investors and implementing social housing projects to save time in mobilizing capital and encourage social resources to participate.

Mr. Nguyen Van Loi, General Director of Thien Phat Company: Currently, if a business has land funds and wishes to invest in social housing construction, Binh Duong province encourages and creates the most favorable conditions for businesses to invest in social housing. This is a difference compared to many other localities nationwide and is one of the motivations for businesses to join hands with the province in developing social housing.

Reported by Phuong Le – Hoang Phong – Translated by Vi Bao