Social housing prices increase rapidly
Social security policies for low-income people are being distorted, turning social housing into a speculative tool, while the disadvantaged continue to be pushed further away from their dream of home ownership.
In just a few years, social housing prices in Hanoi have increased 3-4 times, turning the segment originally intended for low-income people into a lucrative speculative channel. Inadequacies in reviewing applications, lax supervision, and the complicity of brokers are distorting social security policies, pushing vulnerable people to the sidelines of their dream of settling down.
At the Ecohome 3 project in Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi, social housing apartments that were sold for VND15.6 - 16.5 million/m2 in 2019 have now been pushed up to VND62.9 million/m2 on the secondary market, equivalent to 4 times higher in less than 6 years.
A similar situation occurred at the Dong Mo social housing project in Hoang Mai, Hanoi, where the opening price in 2016 was only about VND14 million/m2, but has now jumped to over VND60 million/m2. This number has made many people ask: Who is actually living in social housing?
The phenomenon of buying for speculation instead of living
If they really have a need for housing, why would they rent or resell after 5 years?, Mr. Phan Duc Hieu, member of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, raised the issue.
In fact, many people buy social housing but do not use it to live in. Instead, they rent it out or try to transfer it after the minimum period prescribed (5 years).
Recently, the case of more than 40 households in a social housing area in Dong Nai asking to return their apartments on the grounds that they no longer need to use them has once again sounded the alarm.
No longer an isolated case, the situation of hiding behind low-income people to buy social housing is spreading in many localities. In a group of residents who bought social housing in Di An City (Binh Duong), many people frankly boasted that they have an income of tens, even hundreds of millions of VND per month, but still meet the criteria to be approved to own social housing.
A real estate broker revealed: proving income to qualify for social housing can be flexibly customized in three common ways. One is to create a salary statement yourself and sign the confirmation yourself. Two is to ask the local government to confirm based on acquaintances. Three is to borrow documents and certificates from a familiar business to complete the application.
Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) said that the trick of profiting from social housing does not stop at falsifying income records. In many cases, the person whose name is on the house purchase is completely qualified as a beneficiary, but in reality has no need to live there.
They even register their residence at the apartment to legalize ownership, but rent it out to others or leave it empty waiting for the time to resell it for profit. This makes the discovery and forced repossession of the house much more complicated, because on paper everything is legal.
The Department of Construction should consider post-inspection of social housing as a very important task and must have specific plans and measures to inspect and examine those who are renting and buying social housing at social housing projects. Anyone who does not meet the correct and sufficient criteria should be handled according to the law, Mr. Chau suggested.
Full package profile service
At the Seminar on Realizing the Dream of Social Housing, Mr. Nguyen Van Luyen, General Director of UDIC, said that at the Ha Dinh social housing project (Thanh Xuan), the unit is still in the process of completing legal procedures. However, many brokerage groups have advertised diplomatic quotas for sale, accepting deposits to reserve places, causing confusion among residents.
We confirm that we have never signed a cooperation contract with any trading floor, organization or individual involved in diplomatic booking. We have sent press releases and police agencies four times regarding this issue, Mr. Luyen said, and at the same time advised home buyers to be wary of unofficial information.
Mr. Le Quang Huy, Deputy General Director of BIC Vietnam Joint Stock Company, added that many brokers have advertised full social housing application services, even falsifying income confirmations so that ineligible people can still be on the list to buy houses.
This poses legal risks for both individuals and businesses. If the records are verified incorrectly, the business that confirms the income may be held responsible. Meanwhile, the buyer may lose their deposit to the broker.
To combat fraud and file brokers, BIC Vietnam representatives recommended that the Government should allow online, transparent file review via a technology platform. This would not only speed up the review process but also minimize the negative impacts arising from manual processes.
Currently, the Housing Law has sanctions stipulating that cases of illegal social housing sales will be revoked. However, according to lawyer Nguyen Van Dinh, revoking housing ownership is a very complicated issue because it involves property rights, and can even lead to lengthy litigation.
Therefore, Mr. Dinh proposed a radical solution: Social housing should only be for rent, not for sale. Then, the motive for profiteering will be eliminated. This is considered one of the fundamental solutions to ensure that social housing truly serves the right target and original purpose.
To ensure that social housing truly serves its intended purpose, there needs to be close coordination between state management agencies, from the stage of reviewing applications to monitoring the use of houses after sale. At the same time, technological measures need to be strengthened to make the process transparent and minimize loopholes for fraud.
Source: https://baonghean.vn/gia-nha-o-xa-hoi-tai-ha-noi-da-tang-gap-3-4-lan-chieu-thuc-truc-loi-ngay-cang-tinh-vi-10301565.html
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