The Government Inspectorate has found numerous violations in the management of land funds dedicated to social housing.

In its latest inspection conclusion on land management, construction planning, and licensing in Hanoi, the Government Inspectorate noted that the city has a high concentration of low-income workers, leading to high demand for social housing. However, planning and use of the 20-percent land fund for this purpose remain inadequate.

Between 2011 and 2022, there were eight urban area and housing projects with a scale of 10 hectares or more, but when approving the planning, the Hanoi People's Committee didn’t reserve the 20-percent land fund for social housing development.

Four projects were approved by the Prime Minister to pay in cash equivalent to the 20-percent land fund and were required to arrange sufficient land for social housing at other locations, but by the time of inspection, the City People's Committee had not yet implemented this. 

Three projects with a scale of 10 hectares or more failed to allocate sufficient land for social housing as regulated.

Notably, at the Xuan Phuong Ecological Housing project, the city allocated 6,890m2 at land plots BT6 and BT11, which were originally ecological villa land, for social housing development. The Government Inspectorate argued that this plan is not feasible and unsuitable to the needs of low-income earners.

Another case is the commercial (non-social housing) project serving incumbent officials with the rank of deputy minister or equivalent working at National Assembly agencies. 

This project was initially approved for investment in line with the 1/500 detailed planning of the Xuan Phuong New Urban Area. However, in 2014, the city adjusted the planning, placing the project into the 20-percent social housing land fund. 

According to the Government Inspectorate, this adjustment did not align with the project's goals or the previously approved detailed planning.

Inspectors also pointed out that from 2011 until before August 13, 2019, Hanoi did not separately track the management and use of funds equivalent to the value of the 20-percent land fund; failed to provide guidance or urge investors to fulfill their obligation to pay this amount; and did not separate the payment equivalent to the 20-percent land fund value when determining the financial obligations of investors upon land allocation (the payment was not accounted for separately but included in the general land use fee revenue).

It was not until August 13, 2019, that the Hanoi People's Committee issued a document to implement the payment, collection, management, and use of the amount equivalent to the 20-percent land fund value. Despite this, the City People's Committee has not allocated capital to invest in social housing development from the collected funds.

The inspectors concluded that Hanoi has not invested using the state budget for 10 projects that were allocated land for social housing, while the amount collected equivalent to the 20-percent land fund at many projects is very large. This causes waste of land resources and affects the progress of social housing development in the area.

Land fund for social housing 

The Government Inspectorate recommended that the Prime Minister direct the Hanoi People's Committee to allocate sufficient land to build social housing in 2026 for the eight projects that did not reserve land, the four projects allowed to pay cash in lieu of land, and the three projects with insufficient area.

At the same time, the inspection agency requested the city to require investors of commercial (non-social) housing and urban area projects to urgently build social housing on the 20-percent land fund according to the approved schedule.

“In cases where the investor fails to perform, it shall be handled according to regulations to select another investor or invest in building social housing using state budget capital from the collections equivalent to the value of the 20-percent land fund,” the inspection conclusion stated.

Regarding the Xuan Phuong Ecological Housing project, the inspectors requested the Hanoi People's Committee to review and allocate 20-percent land for social housing construction if the project still has land available.

Meanwhile, the commercial housing project serving deputy minister-level officials or equivalent needs to be reviewed and adjusted according to the original project objectives and the approved detailed planning.

Hong Khanh