Reasons why Ho Chi Minh City has both a shortage and a surplus of resettlement housing:

Project to renovate the northern bank of the Doi Canal, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HOANG HUNG

The fund for resettlement housing, which was thought to be insufficient, actually has an excess.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the People's Committee of Thu Duc City and the former districts and counties have registered housing and land funds to serve the resettlement of 8,359 cases in need of resettlement in the area.

Based on the existing amount of public housing and land assets available for resettlement, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has allocated 5,785 apartments and land plots to localities.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is expected to need approximately 2,215 additional apartments and land plots to serve the resettlement needs of key transportation projects. In the long term, there will be a significant increase in demand for housing and land plots for resettlement to meet the needs of public investment in the city. Therefore, in this situation, the supply of housing and land plots for resettlement is considered insufficient.

Meanwhile, the implementation results of Decision No. 2954/QD-UBND of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee show that the utilization rate of land plots and apartments to date is very low (only 624 apartments and land plots have been handed over to people, reaching a rate of 11%); and there are plans to continue utilizing approximately 657 apartments in the next 6 months. Thus, in this situation, the housing and land plot fund for resettlement is considered surplus.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the reason for this situation is that during sociological surveys and investigations for compensation and resettlement support, people have many choices regarding compensation methods.

In reality, people whose land is expropriated are compensated at market prices, but current resettlement areas are far from where people live, so fewer people choose resettlement and instead opt for receiving money.

Furthermore, the demand for resettlement with land plots at higher prices than apartments has resulted in a large surplus of vacant apartment units. Moreover, although the local authorities have not yet fully utilized this land and housing for resettlement, they have not reported the return of the vacant units...

The Xuyen Tam canal renovation project (from the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal to the Vam Thuat river). Photo: Thanh Hien

Solutions for the effective use of resettlement housing.

To manage and utilize the resettlement housing fund effectively, the Department of Construction has proposed numerous short-term and long-term solutions.

Specifically, the proposed compensation, support, and resettlement plan only states the number of households and individuals eligible for resettlement and the resettlement location, without specifying the number of resettlement apartments or land plots required.

At the same time, the regulations stipulate that in addition to resettlement options such as apartments and land plots, people can choose to receive financial assistance, order commercial housing, or be given priority in the application process for social housing to serve the resettlement needs.

Initially, the Department of Construction will advise the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to issue individual allocation decisions for each newly arising project through adjustments and additions to Decision 2954.

Furthermore, as a long-term solution, the People's Committees of wards and communes must take responsibility for developing, investing in, and creating residential land to serve resettlement in the future; focusing on developing social housing to serve low-income individuals and households affected by public investment projects in the city...

In addition, the Department of Construction will advise the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to authorize agencies responsible for compensation, support, and resettlement to use all public housing units and land plots for resettlement purposes in Ho Chi Minh City after the merger; and to decentralize the authority to the Chairmen of the People's Committees at the commune level to decide on the selling price of resettlement housing in cases where resettlement housing is allocated in a commune different from the commune where the land was acquired.

Thanh Hien

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nguyen-nhan-khien-quy-nha-tai-dinh-cu-tai-tphcm-vua-thieu-lai-vua-thua-post816290.html