Tycoon Duong "Beer" reveals the secret to building houses costing 15-20 million VND/m2 in Hanoi.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The Chairman of Hoa Binh Group has offered suggestions for localities to build 1 million social housing units in just one year.

During a press conference on December 17th, Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong, Chairman of Hoa Binh Group (often referred to as Duong "Beer"), stated that construction companies like his can easily build social housing at reasonable costs.

According to his calculations, the price this company could offer for social housing would be 15 million VND/m2 for suburban areas and 20-21 million VND/m2 in inner-city Hanoi .

Construction materials and technology are constantly improving, making construction costs cheaper than before. Therefore, a price of 15-20 million VND/m2 is already profitable for businesses. Furthermore, this businessman revealed that he has proposed to the General Secretary, the Prime Minister, and the National Assembly to allow businesses to build 1 million social housing units annually without the State having to invest.

The condition is that the People's Committees of provinces and cities must have planned areas of land specifically designated for social housing. For example, Hanoi has planned five concentrated social housing areas, and businesses will advance funds for land clearance, infrastructure development, and social housing construction.

After collecting taxes from homebuyers and businesses supplying construction materials, the city can reimburse the businesses for land clearance costs as per regulations.

With the above approach to calculating the cost of building 10 million social housing units, the State budget will collect 33,100 billion VND without having to spend any money.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong (Photo: Manh Quan).

He argued that building social housing wasn't difficult at that time. There was high demand for properties priced under 20 million VND/m2, so the products were easily absorbed. Once the market had affordable social housing, the price of commercial housing would naturally decrease.

During the presentation, Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong also announced that from now on, he will no longer develop commercial housing projects, even though his company has prime land suitable for this type of housing. He stated that he will focus solely on social housing to serve workers and the poor. Furthermore, implementing social housing projects will create jobs for other small and medium-sized enterprises.

He also acknowledged that commercial housing development is a game for large corporations, not for small businesses. However, this businessman believes that commercial housing development needs careful planning to avoid a situation similar to the Chinese real estate market, where hundreds of millions of homes are unoccupied and many ghost towns exist.

"Housing should be sold to people who need it and have sufficient income to buy a house. Building houses to sell for hundreds of millions of VND per square meter is unaffordable. Even the big players in commercial housing projects need to reconsider their approach," Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong expressed his opinion.

He also shared the difficulties in wanting to build social housing in the inner city of Hanoi. This company currently has two plots of land in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi, that it has applied for to build social housing and have been approved by the city.

According to Decree 30 on social housing, investment approval and investor designation must be granted within 20 working days of receiving the application. However, after three years, Hanoi City has still not granted investment approval for a project, citing the reason that it is prime real estate. Hanoi City has requested the enterprise to develop commercial housing to generate revenue and avoid wasting valuable land.

"In my opinion, the law clearly stipulates that social housing should be prioritized and encouraged, but the People's Committees of provinces and cities are hampered by revenue collection issues, so no provincial or city People's Committee supports businesses with prime land for social housing," Mr. Duong shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/bat-dong-san/dai-gia-duong-bia-he-lo-bi-kip-lam-nha-15-20-trieu-dongm2-o-ha-noi-20241217220754605.htm