Remove all difficulties and obstacles, strongly promote the development of social housing

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the second meeting of the Central Steering Committee on housing policy and real estate market. (Photo: TRAN HAI)

Also attending were Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee; leaders of relevant ministries, branches and agencies. The meeting was broadcast live to provinces and cities across the country.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: We are at the peak of the emulation movement to achieve achievements in celebration of the 14th National Party Congress; accelerating, breaking through, and completing the goals and tasks set out by the 13th National Party Congress, including the key political task of achieving social progress and equity, improving people's lives, ensuring harmonious links between socio-economic development, and harmony between humans and nature.

Specifically, regarding the synchronous operation of the real estate market, the Prime Minister requested the need to develop and expand housing types, promote the development of social housing, rental housing, low-cost housing, housing for workers in industrial parks, create conditions to encourage economic sectors to participate in housing development according to market mechanisms for social policy beneficiaries...

Leaders of central ministries and branches attended the meeting.

Resolution 01/NQ-CP dated January 8, 2025 of the Government has determined to focus on effectively implementing the national housing development strategy, specifically the Proposal to build at least 1 million social housing units for low-income people, science and technology workers in the period of 2021-2030 and local housing development programs and plans. We strive to complete over 100,000 social housing units by the end of 2025.

In recent times, the Government and the Prime Minister have resolutely directed and implemented many synchronous solutions to remove difficulties, promptly promote investment projects, increase the supply of housing and real estate products in all segments, especially the segment of affordable housing and social housing; strengthen control and rectify the management, use of land valuation and auctions, promptly handle manipulation and speculative price increases to stabilize the real estate market with more synchronous institutions, more synchronous preferential mechanisms and policies, more convenient administrative procedures, create a larger supply of housing with more reasonable segments, lower prices, thereby ensuring the right to housing of the people. Relevant entities must actively participate in the spirit of a creative State, and enterprises contribute to creating a healthy, stable and developing market for people to enjoy.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting.

Since the beginning of the year, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued 3 Resolutions, many telegrams, and 12 documents directing the management of the housing sector and the real estate market. According to the Prime Minister, we must address the issue of having beneficiaries and housing needs, so we must have appropriate solutions; social housing must also have adequate technical, traffic, and social infrastructure; there must be social housing policies for the disadvantaged, the young, and the disadvantaged, which must be fair and reasonable; all must put the interests of the nation and people first and foremost.

Therefore, the Prime Minister hopes that delegates will discuss and exchange frankly, all for the people, for the welfare of workers, must overcome barriers in thinking and vision so as not to affect the overall development of the country. Media agencies must focus on promoting good models and good practices for replication.

Leaders of relevant ministries, branches, agencies and units attended the meeting.

In addition to the achievements, the Prime Minister also frankly pointed out a number of limitations and shortcomings, namely a number of mechanisms and policies for developing the real estate market and social housing that have not been amended or supplemented to suit reality, such as the Government's Decree regulating the National Housing Fund, the Project on real estate transaction centers, land use rights managed by the State, etc.

The Prime Minister raised the issue of bringing real estate transactions into real estate transaction centers to strengthen management and the State to collect taxes. There is a lack of supply of social housing at suitable prices, while the progress of implementing social housing investment projects is still slow. Housing prices, especially urban housing, exceed people's ability to pay.

In addition, there is a situation of pushing up prices, creating high prices, virtual prices, causing information and market disturbances for profiteering purposes... The number of real estate project investors offering prices much higher than the average demand of society; real estate transaction operations are not unified, still have potential risks, lack transparency; information about housing and the real estate market is not complete, timely, and lacks transparency. Banks need to control risks, control the flow of money into speculative places, hoarding, and real estate "bubbles".

The meeting was broadcast live to provinces and cities across the country. (Photo: Tran Hai)

The Prime Minister emphasized that the goal of completing 100,000 social housing units by 2025 is a big challenge and requires breakthrough solutions, in which 8/34 localities are having great difficulty completing the assigned target.

The Prime Minister requested that delegates exchange frankly and sincerely, accurately reflect the situation, propose breakthrough solutions, and specifically implement the implementation of real estate trading floors with a number of price control requirements, promote the development of a stable, fair, healthy, and sustainable real estate market, and prevent speculation, price inflation, and profiteering; there must be tools to control this, increase access to home buying, and ensure the right to housing for people, especially workers, low- and middle-income earners, and disadvantaged people.

The Prime Minister emphasized the spirit of saying what you do, doing it for real, with real results, so that the people can truly enjoy it. Therefore, the Prime Minister requested ministries, branches, localities, associations, and experts to focus on brief and clear discussions, focusing on answering the following key issues:

What solutions to increase the supply of social housing and commercial housing at suitable prices?

Solutions to reduce investment costs and product prices such as cutting input costs, compliance costs, reducing administrative procedures, reducing construction costs, etc.

There should be appropriate tax policies to prevent speculation, price inflation, and offering houses at prices too high compared to the market average; credit policies to prioritize capital flows into social housing projects, and those in need of buying social housing and commercial houses at suitable prices; and control cash flows into speculative segments and policy profiteering.

Why do some localities do very well with the same mechanism and policy, while others do not, such as cutting down on investment administrative procedures and managing construction costs? What are the causes and lessons learned from practice?

What are the legal institutional problems in establishing real estate trading centers and land use rights managed by the State? According to the Prime Minister, we implement a socialist-oriented market economy mechanism with State management and regulation.

Is it possible to assign projects to investors and social housing construction enterprises? What are the obstacles? The Prime Minister proposed that it is necessary to develop a Decree to reduce procedures to assign housing investment to a number of large, experienced enterprises in the spirit of responsibility, patriotism, a constructive State, pioneering enterprises, enterprises with moderate and reasonable profits to demonstrate "national love and compatriotism"; pilot a few projects and then learn from experience to shorten the implementation time, while ensuring there are control tools.

What institutional, mechanism and policy problems need to be resolved?

Representatives of associations, businesses and units attended the meeting. (Photo: Tran Hai)

Immediately after this meeting, the Government will immediately resolve a number of issues under the authority of the Government, ministries, branches and localities; if there are any institutional problems, the Government will submit to the National Assembly at the upcoming 10th Session a Resolution to resolve these issues, so that institutional problems do not prevent the effective implementation of social housing development to meet the current huge demand, especially in large provinces, cities and industrial zones.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need for localities to be responsible for ensuring social housing for the people; to change their thinking, awareness, and take drastic actions, with high determination and great efforts, to identify key points, not to be perfectionist, not to be hasty, to meet housing needs and have suitable housing prices for the people; to have both purchase and hire-purchase policies. This must be done for real, with real effectiveness, without formality.

The Prime Minister also noted that officials, civil servants and public employees affected by administrative boundary adjustments, who have to work far away, still have housing needs and are also eligible for housing. Therefore, localities also need to pay attention to these people.

* Regarding the real estate market situation from the beginning of 2025 to the present, the Ministry of Construction said that in terms of supply, many localities have actively promoted administrative procedure reform in planning, investment, construction... to support the creation of real estate supply nationwide, specifically as follows:

Commercial housing projects: Nationwide, there are 39 completed projects with a scale of about over 15,000 units, an increase of 11.4% over the same period in 2024 (in 2024 there were 35 projects); 75 projects were licensed for construction, with a scale of about 33,374 units, including 25,928 apartments and 7,446 individual houses, an increase of 22.9% over the same period in 2024 (in 2024 there were 61 projects).

Social housing projects: The whole country is investing in the construction of 132,616 units; of which, in the first 9 months of the year, 73 projects with a scale of 57,815 units were started. 49,587/100,275 units have been completed (49%), it is expected that by the end of 2025, an additional 35,125 units will be completed (total 84,712/100,275 units, 84%).

Regarding transaction volume: According to the aggregated data, the total number of real estate transactions is estimated at about 431,140 transactions, an increase of about 1.27% over the same period in 2024 (425,752 transactions). The transaction volume in the general market remains stable, but there has not been an explosion. Although the total transaction volume only increased slightly, this increase is considered positive in the context of continuously increasing housing prices, proving that the real demand for housing and long-term investment is still very large and is the main driving force of the market.

Regarding the results of social housing development, through actual inspection and synthesis of reports from localities, the results of social housing development by the end of the third quarter of 2025 are as follows:

Regarding the results of the implementation of the Project of 1 million social housing apartments: Up to now, the whole country has 696 social housing projects being implemented with a scale of 637,048 apartments, of which: 165 projects have been completed, with a scale of 116,342 apartments; 151 projects have started construction and are being implemented with a scale of 132,616 apartments; 380 projects have been approved for investment, with a scale of 388,090 apartments. Thus, the number of projects completed, started construction, and approved for investment by 2025 reaches 60% compared to the target set in the Project (investment in construction of about 1,062,200 apartments).

NEWS: THANH GIANG; PHOTO: TRAN HAI

Source: https://nhandan.vn/thao-go-moi-kho-khan-vuong-mac-thuc-day-manh-me-phat-trien-nha-o-xa-hoi-post914557.html