Maximizing Social Housing Incentives: Ho Chi Minh City Adopts Top-Tier Benefits for Affordable Housing Projects

On December 10th, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction announced the development of a new draft resolution aimed at establishing support mechanisms for social housing construction projects within the city. Prior to the merger, both Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Binh Duong had issued resolutions with varying levels of incentives and support measures.

To ensure unified management, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction collaborated with relevant departments and units to select the most favorable incentive scheme. This approach maintains the feasibility and long-term stability of the policy while avoiding additional administrative procedures.

The draft resolution focuses on two main policy groups. Group 1 provides a 50% subsidy for infrastructure investment within social housing projects, covering transportation, lighting, communication, water supply and drainage, and waste collection and treatment. The total support amount does not exceed 10 billion VND per project. In Con Dao, the subsidy is increased to 80%, still capped at 10 billion VND.

Group 2 covers fees and charges, including all costs associated with investment procedures such as detailed 1/500 planning approval, environmental permits, feasibility study reports, and construction permits. Waiving these fees reduces initial costs and shortens project preparation time.

Before the merger, under the government’s plan to develop at least 1 million social housing units by 2030, Ho Chi Minh City was tasked with completing 69,700 units by 2030. Post-merger, the city’s social housing target increased to nearly 200,000 units. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is implementing over 11,600 units, preparing to start construction on 5,300 units, and has 24,600 units approved for investment.

Nationwide, 696 social housing projects are underway, totaling 637,048 units. Of these, 128,648 units are completed, 123,057 are under construction, and 358,343 have received investment approval. Localities have designated approximately 1,427 sites covering around 9,830 hectares for social housing development.

Through the implementation of social housing development policies, the Ministry of Construction has worked with ministries, sectors, and localities to draft a Government Resolution addressing special mechanisms to resolve difficulties and obstacles in social housing development. This aims to accelerate project timelines, shorten investment periods, and create a comprehensive legal framework to attract more businesses to invest in social housing construction.

Notably, the Government is drafting a resolution on special mechanisms to address challenges in social housing development. This includes project planning approval, expanding eligibility for social housing purchases, and allowing investors to choose applicable legal provisions for construction permits.

In cases where investors propose social housing projects on residential land without detailed or sub-zone planning, provincial People’s Committees are authorized to decide on key land use planning indicators. This enables investors to proceed with 1/500 detailed planning approval and subsequent project stages. Higher-level plans (sub-zone and general plans) will be updated accordingly.

The draft Resolution also proposes that social housing project investors may choose to apply construction permit regulations from either Resolution No. 201/2025/QH15 on pilot mechanisms for social housing development or Clause 1(c), Article 56 of the amended Railway Law No. 95/2025/QH15, which exempts certain projects from construction permits.