Proposal to supplement regulations on preventing policy profiteering in social housing development

Criteria for selecting investors are too strict, easily blocking socialized resources.

Contributing to the discussion in the Group on the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for social housing development, delegate Nguyen Nhu So - Bac Ninh delegation said: In the context of increasingly urgent demand for social housing, especially in large cities and industrial zones, the implementation of social housing projects still faces many obstacles due to inflexible mechanisms, lengthy procedures and not being attractive enough for investors.

Delegate Nguyen Nhu So - Bac Ninh Delegation

Therefore, the issuance of a Resolution to pilot a number of specific mechanisms and policies for social housing development is necessary and timely, aiming to remove legal bottlenecks, create institutional breakthroughs and promote social housing development in a more substantial and effective manner.

However, delegate Nguyen Nhu So said that the criteria for conditions to be an investor stipulated in Clause 3, Article 5 are unreasonable and can easily lead to a narrowing of socialized investment resources.

Specifically, the requirement that investors must have real estate business functions, ensure strict financial conditions, and have experience implementing social housing projects is too strict, especially in the context that the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for a large proportion in localities, have never had the opportunity to implement similar projects but have high financial capacity and cooperation spirit.

Mr. Nguyen Nhu So analyzed that in reality, the Law on Real Estate Business and the Law on Investment do not require investors to have similar experience, but only require them to meet financial capacity and practice conditions according to regulations.

Therefore, maintaining the criterion of “ having implemented a social housing project ” as a hard condition is unnecessary and significantly reduces the accessibility of the policy.

Regarding the regulations on selling/renting prices for social housing, Mr. So said that forcing investors to refund the difference if the audited price is lower than the contract price, while not being allowed to collect more if it exceeds, is "unbalanced", easily causing investors to lose money.

He proposed allowing contracts to be signed at “provisional prices”, with only refunds of the difference exceeding ±5% to increase predictability and reduce risk.

Regarding the mechanism for reimbursement of compensation and site clearance costs, he said that the draft has not clearly stated the deadline, procedures, and responsible agency for settlement when investors advance capital. This causes investors to face cash flow risks and reduces their confidence in cooperating with the government.

Overview of the discussion session at Group 13 on the morning of May 21

He proposed adding a regulation: The Provincial People's Committee must refund the costs within 90 days from receiving valid documents.

At the same time, regarding the application period of the Resolution of only 5 years, according to delegate So, it is also unreasonable.

“ In the context of localities merging and changing organizational structures, it is necessary to extend the implementation period to 7 years, creating more stable policy space for both investment and implementation ,” Mr. So suggested.

Need to regulate negative prevention, avoid policy exploitation

From another perspective, delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son - Hai Duong delegation agreed to issue the resolution but emphasized: "It is necessary to add regulations assigning the Government to build a mechanism to prevent negative loopholes and corruption, avoid taking advantage of policies causing loss of resources, and ensure the quality of social housing construction ."

Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son - Hai Duong Delegation

Regarding the proposal to establish a National Housing Fund, Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son said that it is necessary to review closely to avoid overlapping with the State Budget Law being amended.

Regarding the criteria for selecting social housing investors, according to Mr. Son, through participating in the National Assembly's supervision delegation on social housing, many opinions from voters and people have reflected on the poor quality of the projects.

The draft Resolution has not yet clarified the role and capacity of investors when participating in social housing. Therefore, delegates suggested that the drafting agency review and consider carefully.

Clarifying the conditions for benefits when moving far away for work

Delegate Dang Thi My Huong - Ninh Thuan delegation emphasized the need to issue a Resolution to supplement mechanisms and preferential policies on social housing, contributing to improving social welfare for all people, especially officials, civil servants and workers affected by the merger of provincial and municipal administrative units.

Delegate Dang Thi My Huong - Ninh Thuan Delegation

Ms. Huong expressed concern about Clause 2, Article 9 of the draft, which stipulates the conditions for enjoying social housing policies are still unclear and lack practical coverage. Specifically, if an employee has bought or rented social housing, when moving to a workplace more than 30 km away, he/she will not be allowed to continue buying or renting new social housing, while a person who owns commercial housing can be considered if moving the same distance.

According to Ms. Huong, such regulations cause great difficulties for officials and civil servants when they transfer to a new place of residence, because these people are often the ones who really have difficulty with housing. They also do not have the right to transfer social housing within the prescribed time, so when they need to move, they do not have enough conditions to buy or rent a new one, which contradicts the social security goal that the policy aims for.

Overview of the discussion session at Group 3 on the morning of May 21

Therefore, the delegate proposed to amend and clarify the provisions in Clause 2, Article 9 in the following direction: In case an employee has a new workplace that is 30km or more away from his/her own housing (including social housing), he/she will still be considered to buy or rent-purchase social housing at the new location, provided that he/she has never enjoyed housing support policies at that location.

National Assembly deputies believe that the draft Resolution on piloting specific mechanisms and policies for social housing development is necessary and timely. However, many contents in the draft lack feasibility and are not close to reality. Therefore, the drafting agency should consider and review to ensure that the Resolution's objectives are: To create more preferential mechanisms to attract businesses to invest in social housing construction; promote the development of social housing.

At the same time, help low-income people have the opportunity to access suitable housing, associated with completing the goal of implementing the Project "Investing in building at least 1 million social housing apartments for low-income people and industrial park workers in the period of 2021 - 2030"; balancing supply - demand, adjusting the structure of real estate goods. Thereby, reducing the cost of the commercial housing segment, helping the real estate market develop more stably and healthily .

Thu Huong

Source: https://congthuong.vn/de-xuat-bo-sung-quy-dinh-phong-ngua-truc-loi-chinh-sach-trong-phat-trien-nha-o-xa-hoi-388620.html