A lack of available land and funding were to blame for the social housingshortage, Dung told the “Social Housing: The Establishment of the 2021 - 2030Comprehensive Social Housing Policy in Vietnam” workshop on April 20 in Hanoi.
The urban population is on the rise and likely to reach 47.25 million,or 44.45 percent of the country’s total, in 2030. By that time, Vietnam willhave one city of more than 10 million people, one of 5-10 million, and four of1-5 million. Rapid urbanisation, though positively impacting socio-economicdevelopment, has put enormous pressure on housing, particularly for those on lowincomes, he noted.
To boost social housing development around the country, the KoreaInternational Cooperation Agency (KOICA) shook hands with the Ministry ofConstruction to launch a project on establishing the 2021 - 2030 ComprehensiveSocial Housing Policy, funded by non-refundable aid from the Republic of Korea(RoK).
The project aims to learn from international experience and explore thecurrent situation in Vietnam to propose suitable policies for affordablehousing development over the next decade and meet the growing demand.
A number of proposals, including those regarding land banks, the reformof procedures for social housing purchasing, renting, and “rent-to-buy” schemes,and incentives for developers have been put forward and translated intoreality.
Kim Youin from the RoK Embassy in Vietnam said policies for socialhousing development need to be implemented in the long term and under aspecific roadmap. The Government should also develop exclusive mechanisms andpolicies for people without financial means to access an appropriate socialhousing model, he said./.