The commitments are still far away…

The implementation of social housing projects only reached 20.2% of the plan.

Recently, the Hanoi People's Committee has clearly expressed its determination to implement social housing projects by issuing a series of decisions, plans and specific directions. However, looking at previous results, it can be seen that the commitments and plans that Hanoi has made seem too far-fetched.

According to the report of the Hanoi People's Committee, in the period of 2016 - 2020, the implementation of social housing projects in the city only reached 20.2% compared to the plan. This is an extremely modest result compared to the plan approved by the Hanoi People's Committee.

To speed up the implementation progress, the Hanoi People's Committee has decided to assign the Department of Construction to organize the preparation of investment proposal documents for 02 social housing construction investment projects in Tien Duong commune, Dong Anh district. At the same time, Hanoi is considering continuing to implement the remaining 3 projects in Co Bi commune, Gia Lam district, at land plot CT1-5 under the S5 urban subdivision planning (belonging to Ngoc Hoi, Dai Ang, Lien Ninh communes, Thanh Tri district and Khanh Ha commune, Thuong Tin district) and in Dai Mach commune, Dong Anh district, as a basis for organizing bidding to select investors according to regulations. It is expected that the 05 completed projects will add about 2.5 million m2 of social housing to Hanoi's social housing fund, meeting the huge demand of the city (about 6.8 million m2 of floor space after 2020) and contributing to completing the social housing target according to the Project.

Hanoi People's Committee said that the city is one of the first localities to develop and issue housing development programs and plans according to the provisions of the Housing Law. However, this is a new and difficult task in the context of not yet issuing the city's Urban Development Program.

Therefore, the proposed housing development needs of the City are not close to reality, and do not fully anticipate the challenges that may arise during the implementation process.

In addition, the central government’s policies and legal documents have not promptly provided new regulations or adjusted and supplemented cases arising in practice. The implementation of concentrated social housing areas has been slow due to mechanisms and policies. The bidding for selecting investors has not had specific instructions on the order and procedures for implementation.

In addition, the current incentive policy mechanism has not attracted investors to participate in developing social housing in suburban areas and social housing serving workers and students.

“The land fund for social housing development is lacking because most investors in housing construction projects with a scale of less than 10 hectares of land choose to pay in cash instead of allocating land or housing funds in social housing projects,” said the Hanoi People's Committee.

Recently, the Hanoi People's Committee continued to approve two new Decisions related to the social housing development plan for the period 2021 - 2025.

Specifically, in December 2022, the Hanoi People's Committee passed Decision 5063, approving the social housing development plan in the city for the period 2021 - 2025. In February 2023, the Hanoi People's Committee continued to issue Decision 1186, approving the housing development plan for the period 2021 - 2023.

In these two Decisions, the Hanoi People's Committee has set a target that by 2025, the city will develop 1.2 million square meters of new social housing. However, this target seems relatively far-fetched.

Because, according to the latest report of the Hanoi People's Committee, from the beginning of 2021 to the end of April 2023, Hanoi has 4 more projects completed in full, 1 project partially completed, with more than 345,000m2 of social housing floor space, about more than 4,160 apartments.

Thus, although it has gone half way , Hanoi has only completed 1/3 of the set plan. From now until the end of 2025, with more than 2 years left, Hanoi will have to complete 2/3 of the remaining tasks, which means it must complete 855,000m2 of social housing to ensure the set plan. This is a difficult task that requires great determination from Hanoi.

500 days of procedures to be granted investment policy

There are many reasons for the slow implementation of social housing projects, but the most worrying reason is the lengthy and complicated investment administrative procedures.

In a recent workshop related to removing obstacles for social housing, Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong - Chairman of Hoa Binh Group, the unit that has just been approved by the Hanoi People's Committee for investment policy, approved the investor of Vinh Hung high-rise social housing project, Hoang Mai district, revealed: When implementing administrative procedures for this project, it took more than 500 days to be granted investment policy.

Mr. Duong said that the company has two plots of land in Hoang Mai district (Hanoi). If these two plots of land are used to build commercial housing with a construction area of ​​about 150,000 square meters, the company will earn a profit of about 2,500 billion VND, if sold at a price of 40 - 45 million VND per square meter.

Meanwhile, if we build social housing, he said we would only make a profit of 10%, or about more than 200 billion VND. “But building social housing will solve the problem of selling housing to many subjects: civil servants, public employees, workers, officers, soldiers in the armed forces, and students,” said Mr. Duong.

However, to turn these two plots of land into social housing, Mr. Duong said that when submitting the application for investment approval, it took more than 500 days to be granted a plot of land; while the land already had a red book, a land lease contract, and annual payments were made in full.

"I think the issue of building social housing depends a lot on the will of the city's leaders," said Mr. Duong.

In the coming time, Mr. Duong proposed that the People's Committees of provinces and cities expand the target group for home buying, allowing people who meet the criteria to register to buy social housing.

“According to calculations, there must be at least 20 million people in need of social housing. In the next 20-30 years, the social housing market will always have demand,” Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong emphasized.

Even the leader of the Hanoi Department of Construction spoke out about the need to shorten administrative procedures for investing in social housing.

Mr. Bui Tien Thanh - Head of Urban Development Department, Hanoi Department of Construction gave 3 suggestions to speed up the progress of housing projects in general and social housing in particular.

Firstly, the administrative procedures for social housing investment must be shortened. In case of bidding to select investors for social housing projects, there should be separate regulations, but currently it takes 2 years. That is too long for an investor selection procedure.

Second, according to Mr. Thanh, it is necessary to review and abolish unnecessary administrative procedures. Because for social housing, businesses are only entitled to a maximum profit of 10%, unlike other commercial projects.

Third, in the recent implementation process, businesses have encountered difficulties with public land areas located in a "mixed" manner within the boundaries of housing and social housing projects.

“Public land within the boundary is very difficult to reclaim and allocate, meaning that site clearance procedures need specific regulations to speed up project implementation,” said Mr. Thanh.

Viet Vu

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nha-o-xa-hoi-tai-ha-noi-nhung-cam-ket-con-xa-voi-post250773.html