Urban areas across the nation will need 700,000 apartments for low-income people by 2015, a calculation by the construction ministry said.

The ministry said even if the demand for low-income apartments was met as scheduled, another 200,000 apartments would be needed by the year 2020.

The larger cities will see greater demand for such apartments, the ministry said.

HCM City leads the list with a need for 134,000 apartments, followed by Ha Noi with 111,200, and the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai, and Da Nang City with 104,000, 95,000, and 16,000 apartments, respectively.

The demand for low-income apartments for public service servants in Ha Noi is 30,000.

Sixteen provinces and cities have approved the low-income housing development programme for 2015 so far. The other localities are setting up projects that will be approved this year.

Several provinces and cities are speeding up the review and classification process of housing development projects nationwide. 

VNS