The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee recently issued new regulations expanding social housing support to include residents who own homes but face long commutes.
Eligible individuals include those whose homes are located 14.5 km or more from their workplaces within the same ward, or 20 km or more away if located in different communes (with a margin of error of up to 0.5 km). In both cases, the social housing project must be closer to their workplace than their current residence.
Residents of Con Dao special zone qualify if their per capita living space is less than 15 m2.
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Life at Le Thanh An Lac social housing project, Binh Tan district. Photo: Quynh Tran |
Life at Le Thanh An Lac social housing project, Binh Tan district. Photo: Quynh Tran
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has tasked the Department of Construction to lead the implementation of these regulations, coordinating with relevant departments, wards, communes, and special zones to provide guidance, conduct inspections, monitor progress, and report back to the committee.
Developers of social housing projects are responsible for receiving applications for purchase or rental, ensuring compliance with the regulations. This policy will be in effect until 31/5/2030.
Existing regulations stipulate that eligible individuals for social housing include low-income earners, poor and near-poor households in urban areas; industrial zone workers; officials and public employees; officers, non-commissioned officers, professional soldiers, and people's police; people with meritorious service to the revolution; those returning public housing; students; and households whose land has been revoked or cleared without compensation in the form of housing or land.
Income requirements include being exempt from regular personal income tax, or having an average income not exceeding the level set by the government, currently 15 million VND per month for individuals and 30 million VND for couples. Applicants must not already own a house or have a per capita living space of less than 10 m2, and can only benefit from the social housing policy once.
After merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City now spans over 6,700 km2. For officials with long commutes, the city provides a housing rental allowance of up to 10.4 million VND for those with a position allowance of 0.9 or higher; 8 million VND for those with an allowance from 0.7 to less than 0.9; and 4.8 million VND for those with an allowance below 0.7, no allowance, or contract workers.
Le Tuyet
