Minister of Construction Phạm Hồng Hà at the National Assembly's Q&A session yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI —  NA deputies yesterday questioned Minister of Construction Phạm Hồng Hà on pressing matters, including housing price, regulations on condotel, officetel, low-income housing and planning quality.

Deputy Tô Văn Tám from Kon Tum Province said it was a challenge for authorities in providing housing for people with low-income when the average housing price is 25 times higher than the average income.

Minister Phạm Hồng Hà admitted the fact, saying that real estate pricing was much higher than its real value and compared to people’s income. He said it was necessary to increase supply and stop speculation and profiteering in real estate trading.

Deputy Nguyễn Văn Dành from Bình Dương Province was concerned about the same problem, asking for detailed measures to address the matter of limited supply of housing for low-income people (or social housing).

Minister Hà said many localities had not paid enough attention to this issue and had not allocated a sufficient land fund and supporting loan interest rates for needy people.

Currently, housing for low-income people is only 4.8 million square metres, while the target set for 2020 is 12.5 square metres.

Hà said in many countries, the Government would provide social housing and financial support to people with low income. However, in Việt Nam, the profit rate of enterprises investing in housing for low-income people, which is set at 10 per cent, did not encourage them to pour money into such projects.

The construction ministry would consult the Government on this matter to work out more supporting policies that can attract enterprises to invest in social housing, he said.

Delegate Lý Tiết Hạnh from Bình Định Province said that there were currently no legal regulations governing investment, construction and certification for tourist apartments (condotel). She asked when legal regulations for such type of real estate would be available.

Minister Hà said standards and regulations on management and operation of new real estate types like condotel, officetel would be issued in 2019. At the same time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment would provide guidance on the land use mechanism for works combining condotel and private houses.

Deputy Nguyễn Kim Thuý from Đà Nẵng was concerned about the quality of urban planning, saying that supervision and examination were lacking and that resulted in “super-skinny” houses allowed to be built in many cities.

Minister Hà blamed the fact on the capacity to forecast urban development situation, population growth.

Outdated construction standards system and construction techniques, inaccurate planning calculation were also the reasons for problems arising during the urban planning process, he said.

What could be done, he said, was to strictly supervise projects that had been approved according to the planning, to provide planning to the public transparently and enhance examination and inspection with construction work. Tough punishment must be conducted if violations were found, he said.— VNS