HCM CITY — The HCM City RealEstate Association (HoREA) wants the Government to invest VNĐ1-2 trillion (US$43.8-97.6 million) every year in the 2018-20 period to support social housing developers and buyers.

It said this money should be routed through the four major State-owned lenders -- the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Việt Nam (Vietcombank), Việt Nam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), Việt Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), and Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV) -- who should lend at 4.8 per cent interest rate.

Lê Hoàng Châu, chairman of HoREA, said: “In the long term a mechanism is needed to implement preferential credit policies to support companies who develop social housing. This preference should initially apply to social housing projects for rent.”

This would help reduce prices, he said.

In a recent document it sent to the Government, the association said the VNĐ30 trillion ($1.3 billion) package a few years ago had helped prop up the real-estate market.

In 2008-09 and 2011-13, when the market was in a deep slump, this supporting package had helped liquidate huge stockpiles of housing and bad debts besides providing houses to over 56,000 people.

It had been an effective stimulation policy, which helped the market recover, the association said.

Last year the State Bank of Việt Nam ended the programme and there has been no disbursement to developers since June 2016 and to buyers since the beginning of this year.

Many developers have had to delay completion of their projects and handover to buyers.

The association said that last April the National Assembly Standing Committee had approved the allocation of VNĐ2 trillion to the Việt Nam Bank for Social Policy with a part of this money earmarked for social housing.

But the money is yet to reach buyers or developers, it said.

It wants the Government to soon spend around VNĐ1 trillion out of this amount to support social housing projects. — VNS