Improper land utilisation and
insufficient financial mechanisms have caused difficulties for the country.

A corner of the Viet Hung urban area in Ha Noi’s Long Bien District has been finished, ready for people to occupy. The country needs 20 million apartments. (Photo: VNS)

Attendants at a
conference in Ha Noi on Tuesday discussed these pressing issuing and the Housing
Development Strategy to 2020 with a vision to 2030. The conference was jointly
held by the Ministry of Construction and the United Nations Settlement Programme
(UN-Habitat).

Statistics from the
ministry show that Viet Nam is in need of 20 million apartments. The strategy is
working to ensure that each individual will have 25sq.m of living space in urban
areas and 29sq.m in the rural communities by 2020.

The number of
apartments in urban areas was expected to increase from 4 to 15 per cent of the
total available housing. In Ha Noi and HCM City, apartments should account for
30 and 20 per cent of available housing.

According to the
plan, all 1.6 million temporary houses nationwide would be demolished.

Participants at the
conference said several challenges, including planning management and population
density, would be difficult to overcome.

Tran Thi Hanh, a
UN-Habitat consultant who works with low-income housing, said Vietnamese people
had to save 80 per cent of their incomes to buy a house, while the average rate
in the world was 33 per cent.

In addition, the
urbanisation rate in Viet Nam had increased rapidly and was expected to reach 45
per cent by 2020, which would put additional pressure on housing and
infrastructure in the cities, Hanh said.

Speaking at the
event, a representative from the Government Inspectorate said several housing
and urban development projects had violated zoning regulations.

He said that the
assessment of land prices were not congruent with the market and lacked
transparency.

Participants at the
conference also discussed problems with land allocation, waste, speculation and
monopolies.

Statistics from the
ministry showed that 3.7 million square metres of the available 6.3 million
square metres in HCM City in 2009 that were occupied by State-owned groups and
corporations was not being used.

Deputy General
Secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Urban Areas Vu Thi Vinh said the
strategy should pay attention not only to buildings but to roads and drainage
systems, hospitals, schools and basic services.

She said the
Government should have policies to encourage investors and individuals to invest
in low-income housing projects to further promote affordable housing.

Nguyen Thi Hien, a
UN-Habitat expert, suggested to establish a Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development.

Experts also proposed
creating policies concerning land and housing management and to establish
favourable conditions for the real estate market to develop.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News