Children play in front of an apartment building for low-income earners in the northern Vinh Phuc Province

Eligibility and priority for purchasing or renting houses built for low-income earners will be decided on a points-based system, the Ministry of Construction said Tuesday.

The higher the points, the greater the priority the applications will receive, he said.

The points will be awarded based on a list of criteria that includes those who have been displaced by development projects with cash compensation and do not have their own houses, those serving in the military, employees of state agencies and private firms and other criteria set by each city or provincial administration.

Individuals will have to demonstrate their ability to pay for the house they rent or buy.

Investors in social housing will rely on the ministry’s instructions and information from the provincial People’s Committee to set the priority for buyers.

The ministry said each family or individual can only apply for a house in a social housing project. In case the project runs out of available houses, the investors have to explain its reasons publicly so that people can apply for a different project.

Investors are also required to publish information about their project right after it is launched on the website of the city/province’s construction department, and at least once in the local newspaper and the real estate exchange of the investor, if any.

Payment will be negotiated between the house investors and the buyers without government’s interference.

The investors will send the list of applications, in the order of priority based on the points awarded given, to the local construction department.

Investors that fail to follow the new requirements will be fined, could have their project licenses revoked and be banned from further real estate projects for two years, the ministry said in its instructions.

People will be allowed to buy or rent the houses from the beginning of next year when the instructions take effect.

Source: Tuoi Tre