Affordable Housing: A Brighter Outlook

Many localities are in a hurry

In January 2025, the People’s Committee of Hanoi issued Decision 225/QD-UBND (QD225) approving the list of 72 investment projects for construction of housing and urban areas (batch 4). Notably, it approved 8 social housing projects with a total of 1,583 apartments and a total construction floor area of nearly 256,000 m2. The projects are concentrated in Thuong Tin, Long Bien, and Hoang Mai districts.

Notably, the social housing project in alley 218 Linh Nam, Hoang Mai district, with a scale of 500 apartments and a total investment of VND 823 billion, has attracted much attention. In addition, the list also includes 7 adjusted social housing projects with a total floor area of 75,366 m2 (1,140 apartments).

According to the Hanoi Department of Construction, from now to 2026, the city is expected to complete 11 social housing projects with nearly 6,000 apartments, equivalent to 345,000 m2 of floor area.

According to the 2025 land use plan, Dong Anh district (Hanoi) has 7 social housing projects in Dai Mach, Mai Lam, Kim Chung, and Tien Duong communes.

Specifically: Social housing area for officers and soldiers of the Ministry of Public Security with a scale of 10.7 ha; Project for construction of low-cost housing at CT3 and CT4 plots in Kim Chung new urban area with a scale of 3.7 ha; two concentrated social housing areas in Tien Duong commune with a scale of more than 44.7 ha and 39.5 ha…

Thanh Tri district has 2 social housing projects in Tu Hiep and Tan Trieu communes with an area of 1.56 ha and 1.13 ha, respectively. Nam Tu Liem district has a social housing project in To Huu (Rice City To Huu) with an area of nearly 1.6 ha. Bac Tu Liem district has a social housing project in the urban function area of Tay Tuu with an area of more than 3 ha.

Long Bien district has 3 social housing projects, including: Gia Quat housing area project (social housing and business housing), Thuong Thanh ward with an area of 1 ha; Thuong Thanh social housing and technical infrastructure connection project in Thuong Thanh ward with a scale of more than 6 ha…

In the period of 2026-2030, based on the review of land funds, Hanoi will focus on urging enterprises to implement; reviewing and removing difficulties and obstacles related to investment procedures, land retrieval and handover, shortening the time for administrative procedures, and flexibly allocating capital for social housing projects.

Not only Hanoi but also other localities such as Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hai Phong… are also rushing to build and develop social housing projects.

According to a report from the Ministry of Construction, in 2024, the whole country completed 108 projects with a total of 47,532 social housing units. In 2025, based on the registered data of localities, it is expected that the whole country will have 135 projects with nearly 101,900 units. According to the project “Investing in building at least 1 million social housing units”, it is expected that by 2030, the total number of units completed by localities will be about 1,062,200 units. In which, in the period of 2021 – 2025, about 428,000 units will be completed.

Need the joint efforts of the “four parties”

Ms. Pham Thi Mien – Deputy Head of Market Research and Consulting, Investment Promotion, Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association (VARS) said that the supply of social housing will improve significantly in 2025 when the Housing Law supplements the units allowed to participate in developing projects. This regulation will encourage more economic components to participate in developing social housing.

“In addition to a maximum profit of 10%, investors can also earn profits from the area of business and commercial service works, which accounts for 20% of the project’s development area,” said Ms. Mien.

To develop more than 1 million social housing units, economist Dr. Can Van Luc said that it is necessary to have the joint efforts of the state, banks, developers, and people. The state plays a leading role, and localities proactively build, review, and implement planning for social housing land funds. Soon, it is necessary to research and issue support policies suitable to the characteristics of each locality.

Regarding banks, they should review the interest rates to make them truly preferential for low-income groups. Developers should not think of “getting it done” but must “do it right.” Social housing must also ensure quality and a complete ecosystem, including transportation infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and markets…

For buyers of social housing, in addition to the support of bank interest rates, they need to be proactive in accumulating and planning finances for buying so that they can realize the dream of settling down in the context of the market transformation.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh, Deputy Minister of Construction, in 2025, based on the registered data of localities, the Ministry of Construction expects to complete more than 100,000 social housing units nationwide. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Construction will conduct a comprehensive assessment and focus on urging and implementing to achieve better and more practical results.

In localities, the Ministry of Construction proposes that, for projects that have been started, it is necessary to regularly urge them to complete the projects in 2025.

For projects that have been approved in principle for investment, it is necessary to urgently carry out procedures for selecting investors; land retrieval and handover; establishing, appraising the basis of design, technical design; granting construction permits to start construction in the first quarter of 2025.

At the same time, the Ministry of Construction also urges investors of commercial housing projects and urban areas to implement the construction of social housing on the 20% land fund of these projects according to the approved progress. In case the investor does not implement, the 20% land fund will be revoked to select other investors for implementation.