The housing project for workers has been handed over and put into use by Viglacera Corporation. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Construction has been asked to establish a mechanism and adjust detailed planning for social housing projects, and supplement subjects eligible to buy social housing.

Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hông Hà made the request in the meeting on reporting Government’s draft resolution on special mechanism and solutions for social housing development on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Construction, there are 696 social housing projects with more than 637,000 apartments nation-wide, of which 128,648 apartments have been completed, over 123,000 ones have been under construction, and the remaining ones are waiting for approval.

Localities across the country have planned nearly 10,000ha for social housing projects.

During the implementation, the Ministry of Construction had worked with localities to compile the Government resolution on a special mechanism to push up progress of the construction, create a completed and unified legal corridor, and offer incentives to lure businesses in the social housing projects.

In the meeting, localities and relevant ministries and agencies discussed the draft resolution’s contents, including planning approval, priority subjects for purchasing social housing, and legal regulation application to investors in granting construction permits.

The draft resolution regulates that in case an investor proposes a project on land that has been planned as residential land, but does not have a zoning plan or detailed plan, the provincial People's Committee is empowered to proactively decide in advance on important land use planning indicators. Based on the planning, the investor can proceed to prepare and approve a 1/500 detailed plan to immediately implement the next steps of the project.

Higher-level plans, such as zoning and general plans, will be updated synchronously later.

However, participants said that preparing detailed planning for social housing projects must follow the proper sequence – from the general plan to the sub-division plan and then the detailed plan – and must not be carried out in reverse order.

To shorten the preparation of investment, the Hà Nội's Department of Construction proposed to supplement regulations to allow simultaneous implementation of steps of establishing, appraising, approving and adjusting zoning and detailed plans.

Regarding the supplementary policy on prioritised beneficiaries eligible to buy or rent-to-buy social housing, applicable to households and individuals whose land is reclaimed or who reach an agreement to transfer land–use rights to the project developer for building social housing or housing for the people’s armed forces – without having to join a lottery and without having to meet housing and income conditions as stipulated, Phạm Văn Thịnh, Vice Chairman of the Bắc Ninh Provincial People’s Committee, proposed expanding this group to include households and individuals whose agricultural or production land is reclaimed for the construction of social housing projects.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy PM Hà said that for social housing projects that have already been granted investment approval but do not yet have detailed planning or subdivision planning, both the sub-division plan and detailed plan may be prepared, appraised, and approved simultaneously, provided that consistency between planning levels is ensured and that the responsibilities of approving authorities are clearly defined.

Regarding the proposal to expand the eligibility for purchasing social housing to include people whose residential land, production land or houses are reclaimed for implementing social housing projects, the Deputy PM said this goes beyond the law, and therefore must be reported to the competent authority before being submitted to the Government for consideration and decision.

The Deputy PM affirmed the principle of not abolishing construction permits; instead, procedures including investment approval, environmental assessment, fire prevention and control, and construction permitting will be consolidated into a single dossier for the issuance of a single permit, ensuring all safety, construction quality, environmental and fire prevention requirements are met.

Social housing development should prioritise high–rise apartment buildings, ensuring synchronised technical and social infrastructure and meeting planning standards.

In special cases, if a social housing project is implemented in communes located in ethnic minority or mountainous areas as defined by the Prime Minister, detached houses may be allowed.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the development of a straightforward, clear and easy-to-use application dossier to simplify the house purchasing procedure.

Agencies managing officials, civil servants, public employees and armed-forces personnel must certify applicants’ eligibility within their authority and take responsibility for the information they confirm.

The provincial Departments of Construction will compile the list of eligible applicants and transfer it to the project developer to organise a public lottery, ensuring transparency. Registration dossiers for social housing purchase will remain valid for one year; once this period expires, applicants who still wish to buy social housing may resubmit with simplified procedures. — VNS