Vu Van Anh, LL.M.[1]
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| Nam Long 2 social housing complex in Can Tho city__Photo: VNA |
The population boom and fast industrialization process have forced millions of migrants, workers and young people into serious difficulty in finding houses. The commercial housing market cannot handle this situation due to high prices while the social housing development moves at a snail’s space with low efficiency.
According to the Ministry of Construction’s statistics, in the fourth quarter of last year, 15 social housing projects had been developed with 10,235 apartments. Of this, 12 projects have been completed with 6,397 apartments and three others being underway with 3,838 apartments. So, over the past year, 28 projects with 20,284 apartments had been completed, achieving only 15.6 percent of the Government-set target of 130,000 apartments.
To deal with the situation, the National Assembly on May 29 adopted Resolution 201/2025/QH15 on pilot implementation of a number of particular mechanisms and policies on social housing development. This not only serves as a strategic move but also shows the Party’s and the State’s strong political determination to enforce social security policies in association with institutional reform and sustainable development.
Establishment of national housing funds
Under the Resolution, effective as of July 1, national housing funds will be set up with the hope to create a turning point in housing-related social security policies. National housing funds are off-budget state financial funds having the legal person status and operating for not-for-profit purpose. National housing funds are composed of the central housing fund established by the Government and local housing funds set up by provincial-level People’s Committees. These funds will be formed with state budget allocations, deductions from the amounts equivalent to the values of land areas on which technical infrastructure systems have been invested for social housing construction under the housing law, proceeds from the sale of houses as public assets, proceeds from the auction of land use rights under the Resolution, voluntary support amounts, contributions of organizations and individuals at home and abroad, and other lawfully mobilized sources.
National housing funds will be used for the construction of social houses for lease to cadres, civil servants, public employees and workers, and for the construction of technical and social infrastructure of social housing projects.
Removal of construction investment procedures
The Resolution permits the streamlining of procedures for project approval, selection of project owners, and construction licensing. Worthy of note, the bidding procedures for selection of investors and the procedures for approval of investment policy under the law on investment are replaced with procedures to designate project owners without going through bidding. Additionally, it is not required to carry out the procedures for formation, appraisal and approval of detailed planning tasks.
The Resolution also abolishes the procedures for appraisal of construction investment feasibility study reports at specialized agencies in charge of construction. It permits the application of fast-track procedures for contractor appointment instead of open bidding procedures for bidding packages for contractor selection, etc.
Mechanism for flexible determination of sale prices, rent rates, lease-purchase prices of social housing
One of noteworthy provisions is that the Resolution allows social housing project owners to decide on sale prices or lease-purchase prices of social houses. Specifically, Article 8 provides that based on the methods of determining the sale prices or lease-purchase prices of social houses and the planned profits prescribed by the housing law, project owners can themselves set sale prices or lease-purchase prices of social houses, then have such prices verified by qualified construction consultants before approving them.
After carrying out the acceptance testing of completed social housing projects for putting into use, project owners shall proceed with auditing and account-finalization of construction investment costs in accordance with law and propose specialized agencies under provincial-level People’s Committees to check the sale prices or lease-purchase prices of social houses.
If the prices stated in the audit or account-finalization reports are higher than the prices specified in the signed contracts, the project owners may not collect the differences from the buyers or the lessees. If the former are lower than the latter, the project owners must return the differences to the buyers or the lessees.
Allocation of land not through bidding
The Resolution permits the allocation of land not through bidding in certain specific cases for social housing projects.
To make it more specific, the new regulation says that in case of availability of investment policy approval or investment approval decisions, competent state agencies may allocate land to project owners without having to go through bidding procedures. In case of non-availability of such decisions, competent state agencies will approve the investment policy and assign social housing project owners not through bidding.
The allocation of land not through bidding in this case aims to promote social housing development, thus meeting the housing demand of the people, especially low-income earners. However, it should be noted that this form of land allocation applies only to certain subjects and specific cases while ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.
To act as project owners, investors must satisfy the conditions on real estate business organizations as provided by the law on real estate business. If there are two or more investors registering to act as the project owners, priority criteria for assignment of project owners include: experiences in the implementation of housing projects; financial capacity for project implementation; and other criteria as specified by the Government.
The Resolution also vigorously decentralizes powers to local authorities. Specifically, local administrations are tasked to determine the housing demand, review subjects eligible for social housing, recommend land areas for social housing construction, and select projects. This helps policies be materialized faster and more practically.
It can be affirmed that Resolution 201 is a big step of institutional development. If realized properly and timely while meeting transparency requirements, the Resolution will not only create hundreds of thousands of apartments for workers but also help change the urban appearance, spreading the values of equality, humanity and inclusive development. It not only bears the mere legislative significance but also demonstrates a strong political commitment of the National Assembly and the Government to a core pillar of social security, i.e., the people’s right to live, settle down and earn a livelihood.-
[1] Editor of Việt Nam News and Law.
