Bui Thi Son, 41 years old is an accountant at a private company based in Bac Ninh province. She shared that her family bought a unit belonging to Lan Hung social housing residential block with a concessionary loan taken from Vietnam Bank for Social Policies’ (VBSP) Bac Ninh branch.

The 48-sq.m house values at nearly $20,870. Son was allowed to borrow up to 80 per cent of the house value with 4.8 per cent interest rate per year during 20 years.

Cat Tuong CT4 building, a place to stabilise the lives of low-income people taking loans from VBSP Bac Ninh

“Having a grounded house costing billions of VND is our far-away dream, as the total income of our couple is just a bit more than $500 per month. Hence, we are so happy having been able to possess a comfortable flat near our kids’ school and my workplace, and most importantly it is suited to our budget,” said Son.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, 36 years old, a staff for a life insurance company in Bac Ninh city said, “For three years now, the life quality of our family has much improved after moving to a decent flat at CT4 Cat Tuong with a funding borrowed from VBSP Bac Ninh.”

Ha shared that she was able to borrow up to 75 per cent of the house value with 4.8 per cent interest rate per year. The 75-sq.m house was offered at $360 per sq.m. Her family has paid off nearly half of the house value.

“Formerly, the house rental was almost $130 per month. Now we only need to pay nearly $170 a month to VBSP, and most significantly, we would have our house after paying off the loan, a reality that I could hardly dream off due to my tight conditions,” said Ha.

Hoang Trong Cuong, deputy director of VBSP’s Bac Ninh branch, revealed that right after decrees by the government on social housing development were issued, VBSP Bac Ninh branch had identified this as the top task that needs swift implementation.

Accordingly, leveraging the document guiding social housing loan provision of parent bank VBSP, the branch advised Bac Ninh People's Committee to direct policy credit loan provision in the province.

“Simultaneously, the unit has proactively coordinated with relevant departments, agencies, organisations, and social housing project developers in the area to deploy for loans quickly and in a timely manner,” Cuong added.

The branch has coordinated with relevant agencies to propagate the policy to beneficiaries, people, and businesses in the province to ensure that the policy would soon come to life.

As for the social housing loan programme implementation results in Bac Ninh, as of September 30, the unit was assigned a total capital of $15.9 million by the Bank for Social Policy.

Total cumulative outstanding loan balance at the unit since the programme debut has now reached $13.6 million, with 735 customers receiving loans. As of September 30, the total outstanding balance amounted to $12 million with 745 borrowers, equal to 75.4 per cent of the assigned plan.

Cuong noted that all customers who are eligible for loans and want to borrow are met by the VBSP Bac Ninh unit. The customers have properly handled their payment obligation. The access to capital has helped the customers to have their house, stabilise their lives, and work with peace of mind.

Both Son and Ha said that when buying a house and starting to consider getting a loan from VBSP, they thought it would take a lot of time and complicated procedures.

“In fact, the implementation process was surprisingly quick with simple procedures. It took only two months after I decided to buy the house until my family moved in,” Ha said, adding that it took less than a month for her to complete necessary procedures with VBSP staff.