On August 8th, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s Propaganda and Education Commission and the Department of Information and Communications held a press conference to provide information on the city’s economic and social issues.
At the press conference, Ms. Le Thi Loan, Deputy Head of the Organization and Personnel Department of the Department of Construction, provided information on the proposal for the Management and Support of Private Housing for Rent in the city, which the Department of Construction has recently submitted to the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.
Ms. Le Thi Loan speaks at the press conference
Ms. Loan stated that the Department of Construction has established a task force to implement the proposal. The task force’s objective in developing the proposal stems from the priority of ensuring the safety and well-being of the people, and from there, proposing appropriate policies.
According to Ms. Loan, there are two main aspects of the proposal that have garnered significant attention from the media and the public. These are the minimum floor space per person and fire safety considerations.
In the proposal, the Department of Construction suggests a minimum floor space of 5 square meters per person. The Department of Construction is currently working with districts, counties, and Thu Duc City to gather initial statistical data on rental housing in the area. The figure of 65,000 rental houses in the city is based on 2022 statistics and needs to be updated.
“The regulation on minimum floor space aims to limit the number of people in a room and the number of rooms in a house to prevent overcrowding and prioritize the safety of the residents,” Ms. Loan emphasized.
While the initial proposal suggests a minimum of 5 square meters per person, preliminary statistics from some districts indicate that this standard may vary between inner and outer city areas. As this is a variable, the completed proposal will provide specific regulations.
Regarding fire safety, there is a proposal that alleys where rental houses are located should have a minimum width of 3-4 meters to allow access for fire trucks. In cases where the alley is not wide enough, it should be no more than 100 meters from the main road so that the fire truck’s water hose can reach in the event of a fire.
“The requirement for all rooms in the house to have a hallway leading to an escape route also prioritizes the safety of the residents,” Ms. Loan added.
Ms. Loan shared that one of the expectations of implementing this proposal is for the Department of Construction, in collaboration with the police, to categorize safe rental houses. The ultimate goal is to develop a safe rental house app, which will include transparent information about both landlords and tenants, helping to regulate the rental market.
