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HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Committee has pledged to address the bottlenecks slowing down development of social housing to meet the rising demand for affordable houses.

Its chairman, Phan Văn Mãi, said the city would set up a working team under himself to meet every two weeks with agencies and developers to address problems related to social housing projects.

“The demand for social housing among low-income earners is massive, but the supply is limited.” 

The city is estimated to need an additional 160,000 affordable apartments by 2030 for its growing population and demand, the city's Department of Construction said.

The city plans to review 33 commercial housing projects each on 10ha or more which are required to set aside 20 per cent of their land for social housing.

According to the department, this will enable the city to have 70,000 housing units. 

But developers said they face hurdles since land for housing has become limited in central areas while in suburban districts projects face delays because of red tape.

Experts said developers do not have interest in low-priced housing due to low profits.

Developers who have invested in social housing include Nam Long, Thủ Thiêm Investment, Thuận Kiều, Vạn Thái, Thiên Phát, Sài Gòn Res, Hoàng Quân, Phú Cường, and Sài Gòn Real Estate Corporation.

Lê Hoàng Châu, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said public funding is not used for social housing while concessional loans for social housing developers and buyers remain limited.

Master plan by 2030

The city's housing master plan by 2030 has targets for all categories of housing totalling 295 million square metres and an average floor area per person of 26.5sq.m, according to Mãi, chairman of the city People’s Committee.

It seeks to have 500,000 low-cost apartments by 2025 and to double it by 2030. 

The city will solicit investment in housing under the public-private partnership model.

It will also prioritise the use of State-owned land fund to build social housing.

Mãi has instructed relevant authorities to start rebuilding 14 old apartment towers in districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and Tân Bình this year after years of delays.

The renovation and reconstruction of old apartments have been extremely slow due to red tape related to investment and occupants’ lack of willingness to relocate. — VNS