Southern developer to borrow $600M for social housing development

By Ngoc Diem December 7, 2023 | 12:14 am PT

An artist's impression of social housing project developed by Hoang Quan Group in Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Hoang Quan Group

Social housing developer Hoang Quan Group plans to borrow VND15 trillion ($618 million) to build at least 50 projects and renovate 10 others by 2030.

The company told the government that it plans to build the projects in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An and Dong Nai Provinces.

These are the three localities with the biggest social housing development plans by 2030. HCMC wants to build 93,000 units by 2030, Long An 71,000 and Dong Nai 22,500.

Hoang Quan Group plans to renovate and rebuild 10 old buildings in HCMC.

The government in April issued a credit package of VND120 trillion to fund its ambitious plan of building one million affordable social housing units by 2030.

The package offers developers loan interest rates of 8.7% a year for at least the next three years, compared to the current rate for commercial property developers of 11-11.5%.

Also in April, leaders of Hoang Quan said that accessing the VND120 trillion package was its main target for this year.

Social housing development has been slow in recent years as most developers focus on high-end projects for larger profits.

HCMC, for example, has so far met only 1.3% (or 33,000 square meters) of its social housing development target for 2021-2025.