Pham Minh Man, Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Construction, said at a workshop on social housing development on January 16 that the city currently has 197 social housing projects. These include independent social housing projects and 20 percent land fund reserved for social housing within commercial housing projects.

The total area of these projects is 730ha, expected to provide over 230,000 apartments. "If all these projects are implemented, HCMC will meet the social housing targets for 2030 assigned by the Prime Minister," he said.

According to Man, the Department of Construction is accelerating procedures to commence 18 projects within the first quarter of 2026.

However, among the 197 projects mentioned, the social housing areas within commercial projects are being implemented slower than the commercial housing in the same project. Some developers even don’t develop social housing parts as required.

In response to this situation, the HCMC Department of Construction has advised the People's Committee on handling measures.

For commercial housing projects already being sold where the developer doesn’t implement the social housing parts, state management agencies will not allow that developer to sell future-formed housing in subsequent phases.

Furthermore, authorities will refuse to extend project timelines and will consider handing project files over to the Ministry of Public Security and the HCMC Confederation of Labor for monitoring the implementation.

As for projects that do not implement social housing, developers will not be allowed to pay cash in lieu of land because the deadlines have passed; meanwhile, the Department will not consider approval for their new investment projects.

"This is a sanction because the obligation to arrange and build social housing within commercial projects is the responsibility of the developer under the law," Man emphasized.

According to the HCMC Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), HCMC's social housing development goal by 2030 (under the 1 Million Social Housing Apartments scheme for the 2021-2030 period) is 199,400 units.

However, by the end of 2025, HCMC had only completed 17,902 apartments. Thus, in 2026-2030, HCMC needs an additional 188,498 apartments to reach the set goal.

Pham Tran Hai from HIDS said that there are three major obstacles to social housing development in HCMC.

First is land. The city lacks large-scale "clean" land bank to develop concentrated social housing projects (especially in the old HCMC area and Ba Ria-Vung Tau).

Meanwhile, land prices and compensation/clearance costs have risen sharply, reducing the feasibility of social housing projects. Allocating a 20 percent land fund for social housing in commercial projects is, in many cases, unreasonable. Social housing projects remain fragmented, small-scale, and lack synchronized infrastructure.

Second is financing. Financial incentives are not attractive enough to draw investment in social housing projects. Preferential loans for social housing projects are difficult to access and slow to disburse. Profit margins are capped (at 10 percent of costs), which is not commensurate with the investment risks. The method for determining social housing selling prices cannot keep pace with cost fluctuations and quality requirements.

The third issue is administrative procedures. Procedures for investing in social housing projects remain complex and time-consuming, slowing project progress and increasing implementation costs.

At the event, Le Phuoc Vu, chair of Hoa Sen Group, said his company would also participate in social housing development. He revealed that, on the morning of January 16, HCMC Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang personally called him to discuss ideas for building social housing units.

“Quang suggested that instead of building homes with a ceiling height of 3 meters, we could raise it to 3.6-3.7 meters so buyers would have vertical space to add mezzanines for daily living. The idea inspired me to get back to work,” Vu said.

Meanwhile, Le Hoang Chau, chair of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoRea), said that at a meeting of the Central Steering Committee on housing policy and the real estate market held on January 13, MOC reported that registered commitments by enterprises to develop social housing had reached 1.5 million units. 

Of these, Vingroup registered 500,000 units, Novaland about 200,000 units, Hoang Quan Real Estate 50,000 units, and Nam Long 50,000 units.

According to Chau, 25 reputable real estate groups and companies have been selected to be introduced to localities for implementing social housing projects. In HCMC, the recommended developers include Becamex, Kim Oanh, Nam Long, and CC1 (Construction Corporation No1).

Anh Phuong