Buying social housing for the wrong subjects, determined to recover

On the afternoon of June 3, at the Government press conference, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh answered questions about solutions to rectify the situation of brokers in buying social housing and increase opportunities for low-income people to own social housing.

Emphasizing that social housing is a humane policy of the Party and State to provide accommodation for a large number of low-income workers, Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh said that recently there have been many preferential policies to create conditions for low-income people to access better social housing.

However, he also admitted that recently with some projects in localities such as Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang , Da Nang, Dak Lak... there has been a phenomenon of intermediaries and brokers taking advantage of the scarcity of social housing to advertise for sale for profit.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh. Photo: Nhat Bac

Affirming that this behavior is wrong, the Deputy Minister of Construction said that if any wrongdoing is discovered, the social housing that was sold to the wrong people must be recovered. The Ministry of Construction also issued many documents requesting the localities where this phenomenon occurred to promptly inspect, examine, and review to clarify the issues raised by the press, thereby finding solutions to rectify and handle them promptly.

According to the Deputy Minister of Construction, legal documents have clearly defined beneficiaries and public, transparent and clear conditions and criteria for low-income people to enjoy incentives to buy social housing.

Accordingly, the subjects of social housing purchase are defined as people with meritorious services to the revolution; low-income people, poor and near-poor households in urban areas; workers working at enterprises inside and outside industrial zones; officers, professional non-commissioned officers, technical non-commissioned officers, professional soldiers; cadres, civil servants, public employees; subjects who have returned public housing; households and individuals subject to land recovery and must clear and demolish houses according to the provisions of law but have not been compensated by the State with housing and residential land.

The condition to buy social housing is to meet all housing conditions (no house or have house but the average area is less than 10m2/person).

Regarding residence (must have permanent residence registration or temporary residence registration confirmation and social insurance payment confirmation for 1 year or more at the location of the social housing project).

Regarding income (not subject to personal income tax, i.e. income under 11 million VND after family deductions). Each household or individual is only eligible for support to buy social housing once.

The Deputy Minister of Construction also clarified the procedure for receiving applications for purchasing social housing. Investors are responsible for receiving applications and making a list of people expected to purchase social housing and sending it to the Department of Construction. The Department of Construction will coordinate with relevant agencies to check this list. After determining the list, a lottery will be held to purchase social housing.

"The regulations are transparent and avoid profiteering in policy implementation, ensuring that policies reach the right beneficiaries," said Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh.

Regarding long-term solutions, the Deputy Minister of Construction said that ministries and local branches are actively implementing the 1 million social housing project approved by the Prime Minister.

The Ministry has requested localities to publicly announce the conditions, standards, and subjects for buying social housing; and to strictly manage and monitor the buying and selling of social housing.

Besides, localities need to step up inspection, examination, supervision and handling of violations in the purchase and sale of social housing in the area.

"When we discover a case of buying and selling social housing to the wrong people, we must resolutely reclaim the housing," Mr. Sinh emphasized.

Source