Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting on social housing development on March 16. (Source: VNA)

Speaking at the conference, the PM said that affordable housing remains a key pillar of Vietnam's socio-economic development and one of the highest priorities of the Government, which reflects the country's focus on the people at the centre of development as the driving force, the ultimate objective and the most valuable resource.

He stressed the importance of investing in social housing, in line with Decision No. 388/QD-TTg approving the project "Investing in the construction of at least 1 million social housing units for low-income groups, industrial workers for the period 2021 - 2030" issued last year.

The PM said the development of social housing is consistent with the Party's guidelines and policies, with the cultural and historical traditions, and social ethics of our nation, which emphasise solidarity and mutual assistance.

He outlined some of the Government's preferential policies for social housing projects, such as allocating a maximum of 20% of the total land area for construction, services, and commercial housing; exempting land use fees and land rent for the entire project area; developers are not required to go through land price determination procedures; eligible for preferential interest rate loans; reducing residency requirements for buyers and renters of social housing, among others.

He called on the financial sector, property developers and governmental bodies to review and study the progress made so far to learn lessons and prepare solutions and recommendations for the Government to solve issues that must be addressed.

"All relevant entities, individuals, and organisations based on their functions, tasks, and powers must fully exert their abilities and responsibilities in this work, promoting social ethics according to the cultural-historical tradition of our nation," he said.

To achieve the set goals, he urged the state, people, and enterprises to work together, putting themselves in others' positions, especially those who do not have access to affordable housing.

According to a report by the Government, there are 1,316 land plots with a total area of 8,611 hectares having been planned for social housing, more than double the 2020 figure of 3,359 hectares. The southern province of Dong Nai said it has set aside a land fund of 1,063 hectares for social housing development, Ho Chi Minh City 608 hectares, Long An 577 hectares, Hai Phong 471 hectares and Hanoi 412 hectares.

There have been 499 social housing projects implemented, providing a total of 411,250 housing units within 2021 to the end of 2023 in cities and provinces across the country, including 72 completed projects with 38,128 housing units, 129 projects that are under construction with 114,934 housing units and 298 projects that have been approved with 258,188 housing units.

Many localities have been proactively looking for new ways to attract investment in the development of social housing such as Bac Ninh province with 15 projects, 6,000 units, Bac Giang with 5 projects, 12,475 units, Hai Phong with 7 projects, 11,678 units; Binh Duong with 7 projects, 6,557 units; Dong Nai 8 projects, 9,074 units, Thanh Hoa with 9 projects, 4,948 units.