Government proposes national fund to fast-track social housing

The Vietnamese Government has proposed a set of special policy measures, including the creation of a national-level housing fund and exemptions from public bidding, to accelerate the development of social housing for low-income earners.

HÀ NỘI — The Government on Tuesday proposed a series of special policy mechanisms to accelerate the development of social housing, including the creation of a National Housing Fund and exemptions from public bidding for eligible projects.

The proposals were submitted to the National Assembly as part of a draft resolution to speed up construction progress and address regulatory hurdles in the social housing sector.

Minister of Construction Trần Hồng Minh said the measures are designed to create a more coherent legal framework and attract greater private investment in housing for low-income groups.

He said the resolution would support Việt Nam’s goal of building at least one million social housing apartments for low-income earners and industrial park workers by 2030.

A central element of the proposals is the establishment of a National Housing Fund, a state financial institution that would operate at both the central and local levels.

The fund would be financed by state budget allocations, voluntary contributions, proceeds from land-use payments where infrastructure has been developed for social housing, revenues from the sale of public housing assets, and other sources.

It would be used to finance the development of social housing for public employees and workers through rental or rent-to-own schemes.

Minister Minh noted that Việt Nam lacks a national-level housing fund or financial mechanism to support long-term social housing development.

While a handful of local housing funds exist, including in HCM City and Bình Dương Province, their operations have been limited due to funding constraints, and most have merged with broader local development investment funds.

The National Assembly’s Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs endorsed the proposal to establish the fund, but requested clarity on whether the fund meets legal requirements to act as a project developer under current housing laws.

It also called for more detail on the fund’s legal status, organisational model and mandate, noting that its broad scope would require a more robust financial framework.

The draft resolution also proposes allowing certain social housing projects to bypass the public bidding process. Specifically, projects that do not use public investment capital could be approved and assigned directly to developers, without competitive bidding.

Minister Minh said provincial governments would be authorised to approve investment policies and assign developers for these projects.

The ministries of National Defence and Public Security would also be empowered to allocate housing development projects for armed forces personnel, with prior agreement from provincial authorities on project sites and land use.

The committee supported this special mechanism, but cautioned that the wording of the draft resolution could lead to confusion over whether it applies to publicly and privately funded projects.

Since the Government’s proposal refers only to projects without public investment, the committee recommended reviewing the language to ensure legal clarity.

It also urged a review of the classification between general social housing and housing for the armed forces to ensure legal consistency and prevent implementation issues.

In addition, the committee called for clearer, more comprehensive criteria for selecting developers to ensure the process is fair, transparent and consistent with legal standards.