As many as VND 531 billion (USD 21.7 million) under the VND 120 trillion credit package for social housing development has been disbursed, according to Director General of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Department of Credit for Economic Sectors Ha Thu Giang.
At a conference on credit growth on February 20, Giang said that in 2024, the SBV will continue to direct credit institutions to drastically implement credit programs and policies under the direction of the Government and Prime Minister, including the VND 120 trillion package, as well as coordinate with ministries and agencies to remove obstacles during the implementation process.
The development of social housing projects will open up opportunities to solve the mismatch between supply and demand and increase liquidity, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association Nguyen Van Dinh told Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper.
He also pointed out three obstacles that hinder the work are land fund shortage, limited credit supply from the State Budget, and inconsistent construction procedures that prolong the implementation of these projects.
Dinh suggested that it is necessary to accelerate the planning of social housing development areas to solve the problem relating to land fund shortage.
Regarding capital sources, suitable policies should be issued to support home buyers and ensure output for products.
As for procedures, Dinh noted that the revised Housing Law and the Law on Real Estate Business have added preferential policies for investors as well as simplified procedures and conditions to buy, rent social housing but the revised Land Law and Housing Law will take effect from January 1, 2025. Therefore, it is necessary to speed up the promulgation of decrees approved by the Land Law and Housing Law so that investors can easily conduct procedures and access land and capital, he said.
He also urged drastic instructions and banks' active involvement in facilitating access to the 120 trillion VND credit package.
The Ministry of Construction said 108 social housing projects with over 47,500 apartments are expected to be completed in 2024.
Accordingly, the southern province of Binh Duong registered the biggest number of projects to be completed this year with 20 projects and 4,500 apartments. The northern province of Bac Ninh registered the biggest number of apartments to be completed with 6,000 in five projects. Ho Chi Minh City registered six projects with more than 3,700 apartments and Hai Phong city, eight projects with 3,925 apartments.
The VND 120 trillion support package was first implemented in April last year which aimed to provide loans with rates 1.5 -2 percent lower than the medium and long-term lending rates in the market to developers of social housing projects and home buyers, following the Government’s Resolution 33/NQ-CP dated March 11 regarding solutions to remove difficulties and promote the safe, healthy and sustainable development of the real estate market.
Four State-owned commercial banks will join in the disbursement of the package which will run until 2030.
Vietnam targets to build at least 1 million social housing apartments by 2030.
In 2023, a total of 28 housing projects with 13,864 apartments for low-income earners and workers at industrial parks were completed, while 16 other projects were kicked off.
