Social housing apartments built by the Le Thanh Company on Le Tan Be Street (Binh Tan District) have been put into use since 2019. There are a total of 930 apartments built on an area of 18,000 square meters.
Tran Thanh Phong, head of the apartment management board, said the project has four blocks of five-story buildings. The area of each apartment is 36-43 square meters, he said.
The reserve price for each apartment is about VND500 million for 49 years. Three years since its opening, all apartments are occupied with more than 2,000 residents.
Unlike other commercial apartments, these buildings don’t have fancy facilities like swimming pools, children's playgrounds and fitness centers. The public zone in this area is a park at the entrance. Every afternoon, many people take their children to the park or talk walks on internal paths.
On the afternoon of Sept. 7, Tran Thi Nhung (orange dress) of Hau Giang Province took her children for a walk in the residential area. She has been off work after giving birth to her second child and staying home to take care of her children. The family depends mainly on the salary of her husband, who works as a security guard.
The 32-year-old woman said that in 2010, when she was newly married, she and her husband began saving money to buy a house, hoping not to have live in rented lodgings anymore. Eight years later, with savings of over VND100 million, they chose to buy a social housing flat for VND600 million. They paid some money in advance and VND6 million in monthly instalments over an agreed period.
"Now my family still owes VND200 million. Every month after paying the loan, we don’t have enough money to set aside. Even so, living in my own house is still much better than living in lodgings as many other workers do," Nhung said.
Nearby, Ngan holds her little child and enjoys the breeze in the park. After ten years of working as a garment worker in HCMC, she and her husband settled down in their own house last year that cost VND800 million.
"Before buying this flat, my husband and I lived separately because of our jobs.
Our life in rented lodgings was so uncomfortable. After five years of saving money, we could buy the flat on installments. Now we are trying to repay the debt,” the 43-year-old woman said.
Huynh Thanh Nhat, 44, of Vinh Long Province, is one of the residents living on the first floor of block C. He moved in three years ago. His 43 square meter flat is a "sweet home" for a family of four. He works as a construction worker and his wife is a retail trader.
Having come to HCMC at the age of 20, it took him 20 years to realize his dream of having his own house in the city. His flat is not far from where he works, so it allows him more time with his children.
Bui Thi Thuy Tien, 36, of Dong Thap province, lives with her family in a 36 square meter apartment. Her husband, who works as a car mechanic, comes home late often, so she and her daughters usually have their meals in advance. After dinner, Tien goes to a mini-mart on the ground floor to work as a saleswoman. During the day, the mother of three works as a tailor at home.
Having lived in HCMC for nearly 20 years, Tien and her husband do not remember how many times they moved from one rented lodging to another. When their children grew up, their rented accommodations became very cramped.
Two years ago, after trying their best to save money, the family bought an apartment for VND500 million.
The only bedroom in Tien’s apartment is a private space for her three daughters. They have to expand the mezzanine to have more space for their children to live and study.
Tien said that although the apartment was quite small for a family of 5, she was satisfied with her current life. "Even though I still owe money, staying in my own house is the best. I feel happy seeing my children have their own room, not having to play in narrow alleys," she said.
Each block in the social housing complex is equipped with a surveillance camera system and there are guards on duty round the clock, ensuring residents’ security.
Children play in the social housing complex.
Social housing is a model that comes with preferential land tax and lower interest rate loans than commercial houses. They are built for low-income people, people with meritorious services, soldiers and other social welfare recipients.
According to the HCMC Department of Construction, over the last 15 years, the city has put 31 social housing projects into use with 18,800 apartments. However, this has only met a small part of the demand.
Each apartment costs VND1-1.6 billion on average (at VND14-20 million per square meter), according to the appraisal price announced by the Department of Construction in 2019. This price is considered low in the market, but still high for low-income people, especially for workers.
According to the Department of Construction, Ho Chi Minh City has more than 500,000 households, accounting for a quarter of the total households in the city, without their own house. This figure does not include families who live in small houses with an area of less than 10 square meters for one person, which does not meet the legal housing standard.
Recently, Ho Chi Minh City rolled out a plan to build one million low-cost houses, including several social housing units.
