VietNamNet Bridge – Low-income houses, in theory, are built for low-income people, but in practice, these homes do not necessarily go to the intended residents.

Neither Tuyen nor Linh were born in Ha Noi, but they have lived in the capital for seven years since they were college students.

The newlyweds and their son, who was born few months ago, currently live in a 10-square-metre rented flat and pay VND2 million (US$100) per month. And the house has seemed only to shrink since Linh's mother moved in to look after their son.

Linh wants to own a low-income house so that her family will have more space; however, it is not so easy to buy such a home. When Tuyen asked to buy a house in the Dang Xa Urban Area in Gia Lam District, he was refused based on the fact that he did not have home ownership rights in Ha Noi.

Under the Ha Noi People's Committee, people that live in an average house area of less than 5sq.m or own land less than the standard area allowed to rebuild are eligible to buy low-income houses.

In addition, people must have home ownership rights in Ha Noi or have registered to reside for a long term in the city.

Another case, Nguyen Giang Nam, of Thanh Xuan District, who is on the list of people eligible for low-income housing, was also rejected because of problematic home ownership rights.

Although Giang brought his file numerous times to the Kien Hung Urban Area in Ha Dong District with the hope of being able to purchase a new home, he said he did not have high expectations since the list of eligible residents was quite long.

"The reasonable price, about VND10 million ($500) per square metre, and location near the inner city are reasons that make the houses sell well", Giang said.

There are 800 low-income houses in the urban area, but some people said that the number of files to register to buy these homes has reached the thousands.

Contrary to the situation in Kien Hung Urban Area, few people have tried to buy houses in Dang Xa Urban Area.

Le Ngoc Uoc, deputy director of Viglacera Infrastructure Investment Development Company and an investor in Dang Xa Urban Area said the company sells 946 low-income houses for VND11.6 million (US$552) per square metre, VND6 million ($285) lower than other houses in the area.

But we received only 100 files to buy the houses, Uoc said.

Distance from the city center is thought to be the reason why people have hesitated to buy these houses.

There are certainly shortcomings in the city's low-income housing policy, Uoc said.

Vu Ngoc Dam, head of the municipal Construction Department's Housing Development Office, said the poor promotion of housing in Dang Xa Urban Area might also be a reason for low demand.

"We give priority to people living in the city," Dam said.

Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of the Natural Resources and Environment, said "As many as 60 per cent of the files to buy low-income houses were rejected, so the difficulty is how to get a correct file that meets the requirements of the investors."

Vo suggested that Viet Nam should establish a Low-income People's Association and give them rights to nominate people in need of low-income houses.

"It's necessary to socialise the distribution of low-income houses", Pham Sy Liem, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Federation of Civil Engineering Associations, said.

Some experts are concerned that low-income housing built with a small budget will become even lower quality, which could worsen the future image of the city, not to mention make life worse for residents.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News