PM Phạm Minh Chính speaks at the meeting. VNA photo

HÀ NỘI  – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has ordered a clampdown on price inflation and speculative practices in the domestic real estate market, stressing the need to protect people’s access to affordable housing.

Chairing a working session in Hà Nội on May 24 between permanent Government members and representatives of ministries, agencies, associations, banks and businesses, the PM directed Deputy PMs to prompt ministries and agencies to draft resolutions for the National Assembly. These resolutions, he insisted, must dismantle the legal obstacles hampering the real estate sector.

He called for revising decrees and regulations to foster a safe, healthy, sustainable, and equitable real estate market tailored to the country’s socio-economic conditions and people's incomes.

Housing, he declared, whether commercial, social, or part of a nationwide campaign to eradicate dilapidated houses, should lift communities, not burden them with inflated costs. He urged measures to slash input costs that drive up prices, expand supply to make homes more accessible, streamline administrative procedures, and eliminate outdated regulations.

Local authorities, he stressed, must shoulder greater responsibility for land clearance, a linchpin for unlocking development. Tasks were also divided among relevant agencies, local authorities and businesses, each charged with turning rhetoric into reality.

The Ministry of Construction reported robust recovery in the real estate sector in the first quarter of 2025. Completed commercial housing projects rose by 40 per cent from the previous quarter, delivering over 3,800 units of 14 projects. Licensing activity buzzed, with 26 new projects approved for nearly 16,000 units, a 44 per cent jump from the prior quarter, while 59 projects, totalling 20,000 units, were greenlit for pre-sale, up 55 per cent. Nationwide, 994 commercial housing projects, comprising nearly 400,000 units, are under construction.

Under Việt Nam’s plan to develop 1 million social housing units, over 1,300 sites spanning 9,700 ha have been earmarked, with 679 projects launched to deliver more than 623,000 units. However, 788 projects are mired in disputes over land use rights, investment procedures, planning, construction permits, housing regulations, bidding, and financing. VNA/VNS