This aims to provide low-income individuals with access to affordable loans to purchase social housing, ensuring more effective financial support than previous programs.

This was revealed during a quarterly press conference held by the Ministry of Construction on October 17, 2024.

According to Vuong Duy Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management, although the 120 trillion VND credit package was launched, it has seen little uptake. Despite two interest rate cuts by the State Bank, the short period of preferential rates - three years for developers and five years for individual buyers - has failed to attract borrowers.

The 120 trillion VND package is funded by commercial banks without government-backed support. In contrast, the proposed 30 trillion VND package will be funded by the state budget, better aligning with the government's goals of addressing housing affordability and welfare concerns.

Dung noted that the demand for funding up to 2030, as outlined in the "1 million social housing units" project, is projected at 500 trillion VND. The 120 trillion VND package only meets about 24% of this need.

“To ensure stable and diverse funding for those in need of social housing and to achieve the project's objectives, the proposal for a 30 trillion VND loan fund is essential. This fund will allow the Social Policy Bank to provide loans for purchasing, renting, building, and renovating homes, thereby supporting social policies during this critical time,” Dung stated.

The proposal, according to Dung, must align with housing laws, budget regulations, credit laws, public investment laws, and other relevant legal frameworks. The Ministry of Construction is working closely with other ministries to ensure the proposal is comprehensive and legally compliant before it is submitted to the Prime Minister.

Recently, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Construction, in coordination with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Bank of Vietnam, to finalize the details of the 30 trillion VND credit package by the end of October 2024. This fund will be used by the Social Policy Bank to offer loans for the purchase, rental, construction, and renovation of homes as part of social housing policy implementation.

The package will be sourced equally from two streams: 15 trillion VND from government bonds and 15 trillion VND from local budgets.

During the press conference, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Viet Hung emphasized that key elements of the social housing policy include land-use exemptions and preferential loans. Providing these loans helps both developers build social housing and low-income individuals secure affordable housing, giving them more time to manage their finances.

In the coming months, the Ministry of Construction, along with other related ministries, will work to ensure that the proposed credit package is legally sound, feasible, and effective, enabling low-income earners to access affordable loans for housing.

As of now, 619 social housing projects, accounting for over 561,800 units, have been initiated across the country. Among these, 79 projects have been completed, providing nearly 40,700 homes; 128 projects are under construction, with around 111,700 units; and 412 projects, with over 409,400 homes, have received investment approval.

To date, about 35.6% of the target set for 2025, which is 428,000 homes, has been met.

Regarding the 120 trillion VND credit package, the Ministry of Construction reported that in addition to the four state-owned commercial banks (BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank, and Vietcombank), four more banks - TPBank, VPBank, MBBank, and Techcombank - have registered to participate, each committing 5 trillion VND, increasing the total capital available to 140 trillion VND.

By the end of August, the credit package had disbursed 1.344 trillion VND, with 1.295 trillion VND allocated to developers and 49 billion VND to homebuyers.

Hong Khanh