Families of State employees presently occupying an average house area of more
than 5sq.m per person will now be eligible to buy a low-income house, according
to a draft plan covering the period from 2011 to 2020.

Previously, the
Housing Law and Government Resolution 18 regulated that housing for those with
no homes or those occupying an average area of under 5sq.m per person would
qualify for low-income urban houses.

According to the new
draft plan, State cadres, civil servants and members of the armed forces can
qualify because, despite an increase in basic salaries, State employees are not
able to buy houses at market prices which are very high.

Therefore, those
classified as having an average house area of above 5sq.m per person should also
have the right to buy low-income houses.

To encourage the
involvement of other economic sectors in building social houses, the proposal
also asked for preferential policies for investors, such as exemption from
land-use and rental fees, and the highest level of refunds from Value-Added Tax.

Investors will also
enjoy exemption from corporate income tax during the first four years and a 50
per cent discount in corporate income tax in the following five years. After
this period, corporate income tax will be only 10 per cent.

From 2011 to 2015, Ha
Noi plans to provide 10,000 flats (1.5 million square metres) for families with
average accommodation area of between 5sq.m and 10sq.m per person.

According to the Ha
Noi Construction Department, 580,000 State officials working in 72 ministerial
and central agencies have demand for houses. Of the total, 126,000 people fall
in the category of under 5sq. m per person of housing area.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News