Social housing projects seek loans from $5B credit package

By Dat Nguyen July 24, 2023 | 03:00 am PT

A social housing project in Da Nang City. Photo by VnExpress/Van Dong

Thirty-seven social housing projects have qualified for loans from the VND120 trillion ($5.07 billion) credit package that the government has set aside to boost affordable home supply.

These projects need to borrow VND17.85 trillion in incentive interest loans, according to a report by the Ministry of Construction.

Bac Ninh, Binh Dinh, and Ho Chi Minh City each has six projects. The 37 projects will be reviewed by local authorities for approval.

The VND120 trillion credit package was launched in April to boost the supply of affordable homes across Vietnam as there is a severe shortage of property units in this segment despite high demand.

The package offers loan interests 1.5-2 percentage points lower than the market average.

Some banks have started to approve loans in this package, the State Bank of Vietnam said earlier this month.

There are now 294 social housing projects with a total of 288,500 units being developed in Vietnam, according to the construction ministry.

Nine of them began construction in the first half of this year.

The ministry has admitted that bureaucracy in social housing approval is delaying development and increasing expenses for businesses.

Many localities have not earmarked land lots for social housing projects and land clearance often takes a long time.