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🇻🇳 Vietnam /Economy & Trade

Readers call for a breakthrough in Vietnam’s social housing policy

From Thanh Niên · () Vietnamese

Translated from Vietnamese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Vietnamese lawmakers and readers are calling for changes to make social housing affordable for workers whose incomes often do not match current prices and rents.
  • Lawmakers cited gaps in price-setting rules, eligibility screening and protections against abuse of the policy.
  • Readers urged the state to expand supply, prioritize low-income people without housing and offer payment arrangements that allow families to move in before paying gradually.

For many Vietnamese workers, social housing remains financially out of reach even when it is designed for lower-income households. Lawmaker Phan Thị Thúy Linh said average monthly worker income nationwide stands at about 9 million dong, while some localities average only 6 million to 8 million dong. Yet a roughly 50-square-meter social housing unit offered for sale earlier this year cost more than 1 billion dong, equivalent to about a decade of income. Monthly rent stood at around 5 million dong.

But a social housing unit of about 50 square meters offered for sale earlier this year cost more than 1 billion dong, equal to about 10 years of a worker’s income. Monthly rent was about 5 million dong. Under the current formula, workers have very little ability to afford it.

· Phan Thị Thúy LinhThe lawmaker described the gap between worker incomes and social housing prices.

“The current formula makes it very difficult for workers to afford,” Linh said. She argued that the draft law calculates prices from investment costs but does not tie them to what residents can actually pay. Resolution 21, meanwhile, calls for rental housing at prices suited to people’s ability to pay, not merely to construction costs.

Lawmaker Võ Ngọc Thanh Trúc said social housing should create a fair mechanism allowing workers to buy, rent or rent-to-own suitable homes while they work and raise their families. She also warned that the draft includes penalties for violations but lacks checks and screening at the approval stage. “This gap could create loopholes for people to profit from the policy,” she said, calling for objective and verifiable income criteria.

The draft law sets out penalties for violations but does not yet provide a mechanism for inspection and screening from the approval stage. This gap could create loopholes for people to profit from the policy.

· Võ Ngọc Thanh TrúcShe called for stronger eligibility checks in the proposed law.

Thanh Nien readers broadly agreed that demand is substantial. Reader Trường Lưu said the policy should serve as social welfare and argued that increasing supply requires the state not only to offer incentives but also to build social housing directly, rather than treat it as an ordinary business. Ba Phi noted that apartment management fees would add to the burden. A family of two adults and one child in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, with combined monthly income of 30 million dong, might still hesitate to save for a purchase at current prices.

Under the rules, to reduce social housing prices, the number of products on the market must increase.

· Trường LưuThe reader argued that greater supply is necessary to lower prices.

Reader Nguyễn Tấn said the policy should serve low-income people who lack housing and should not blur the line between social and commercial housing. He proposed helping people obtain homes first and repay the cost over time. The article continues with readers’ concerns about registration procedures.

Social housing should serve only low-income people who currently have no place to live. It should not be confused with commercial housing.

· Nguyễn TấnThe reader urged lawmakers to keep the policy focused on social welfare.
About this summary

Originally published by Thanh Niên in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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