Administrative hassles have hampered
the progress of a social housing programme to provide accommodation to
low-income earners in HCM City, industry insiders say.

Officials double-check smuggled goods at Huu Nghi border gate with China in northern Lang Son Province. Authorities at border gates are tightening controls to prevent smuggling and fake goods during the lead-up to Lunar New Year. (Photo: VNS)

Launched
20 years ago in HCM City in various forms, the programme has been interrupted by
investors who are too interested in providing high-end housing.

It was
not until 2009 when the real estate market had lost steam that the programme was
restarted, but it proceeded at a sluggish pace.

Le Hoang
Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said that all of the
projects under the programme had been registered but yet to be implemented, and
it was problems related to the policies to blame.

Dat Lanh
Real Estate Co’s deputy director Nguyen Van Duc said the administrative
procedures that accounted for 50 per cent of the low-income housing prices were
overly cumbersome and had significantly obstructed the programme’s pace.

He said
his company had been one of the pioneers to join the programme, having built
several apartment blocks and residential areas for low-income earners in
different city’s districts.

The
company was undertaking an apartment block project with the Ministry of
Construction having approved two-person 20-45 sq.m mini-apartments.

Another
project, which is in the pipeline in Go Vap District, was facing hurdles
involving investment procedures and licensing, Duc said.

Councillor Dang Van Khoa said for the time being it was essential to develop
housing projects for the city’s low-income earners.

Khoa
however noted that municipal authorities merely planned to carry out State
incentive policies, such as tax exemptions and reductions, and subsidised
interest rates.

Around
30,000 houses for low-income earners are needed every year, according to
property experts.

Khoa
said that developing housing for low-income earners must be a top priority for
the State without whose co-ordination, the programme would not yield results.

He said
city government should be directly involved in organising and calling for
investment, and implementing the programme.

To
tackle current difficulties faced by investors participating in the programme,
Khoa said the city administration must make a ground-clearance land fund
available to the programme’s investors.

He said
the city could retrieve and hand over to the programme’s investors hundreds of
hectares of public land currently leased by businesses to develop social housing
projects.

For
prime locations, municipal authorities could retrieve land and put under
auction, the proceeds from which would be to create a new land fund to be used
by investors.

Experts
said that the availability of a cleared land fund would accelerate the
implementation of social housing projects, and make unit prices more affordable
to low-income earners.

Capital
issues emerged as another hurdle to investors, since none had been able to
borrow capital at preferential interest rates to develop social housing
projects, Khoa said.

Although
the Ministry of Construction had asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment to guide localities about issuing land use certificates to investors
involved in low-income housing to access bank loans, the solution remained
impractical, he added.

Chau of
HCM City Real Estate Association said focus should be given to social housing
projects that could be leased out on a long term at a reasonable price.

City
government would co-ordinate or directly invest in these projects with
businesses being the co-implementer of the project.

Deputy
Construction Minister Nguyen Tran Nam said that low-income housing currently
sold for 8 to 10 million dong per square metre (US$400-500) and each unit
measured 50 to 60 sq.m.

Nam said
the above price remained beyond the reach of low-income public employees.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News