The surge in housing and land prices has become a major public concern, as the dream of home ownership drifts further out of reach for many.

Recent directives and actions by senior leaders demonstrate a political commitment to stabilizing the real estate market and ensuring access to housing, a fundamental social welfare and long-term stability issue.

At a voter meeting in Hanoi on September 30, Party Chief To Lam pointed out that “manipulation and price inflation are making it unaffordable for people to buy land even in their homeland”. 

He demanded tightening control over land auctions, preventing speculation, and ensuring that the land truly belongs to the state and people.

PM Pham Minh Chinh has repeatedly expressed concern about high housing prices such as VND100 million per sqm which is unaffordable for people, emphasizing the need to address root causes of market distortions.

On October 7, Chinh signed Directive 190 requiring ministries, sectors and localities to implement solutions to increase supply, reduce housing prices, stabilize the real estate market and ensure people's right to housing. 

Then on October 24, the government leader chaired a conference with 17 localities having high demand for social housing to discuss breakthrough solutions. 

He emphasized the view that “economic development must link with social progress and justice”, requiring stakeholders to propose specific mechanisms. 

The government will soon issue a new resolution on social housing development, create a clear legal corridor, strongly decentralize to localities, and diversify capital sources.

The NA also issued Resolution 201 on piloting special mechanisms and policies for social housing.

Rental housing

On the sidelines of the ongoing NA session, Deputy Tran Hoang Ngan said the directives from the Party Chief and the PM share one point: economic development cannot be separated from social responsibility as housing is a basic need of people.

He said: “Each locality must follow the spirit of the NA’s resolution, remove institutional bottlenecks, unblock stalled projects to create resources and supply both commercial and social housing. Focusing solely on social housing cannot balance the overall market.”

He said there is a need to create abundant supply because “when commercial housing prices decrease, social housing prices will also reduce”.

A more sustainable direction is to strongly develop the rental housing model, especially for factory workers.

“I still pursue the viewpoint of focusing on rental housing for workers, because most migrate from rural to urban areas temporarily for work. After the labor period ends, they return home. Their main need is a safe and stable place to live and produce,” he said.

However, the private sector has hesitated to invest in rental housing due to low profit, he said. Therefore, the state role is very important.

He proposed using idle public land and assets to build rental housing while keeping them as public property. 

During the process of restructuring local public service companies, they could be assigned to manage and and organize cultural and social activities in these housing areas, turning them into civilized, cohesive communities.

This would encourage private landlords to upgrade boarding houses following the rental housing model, creating standardized, safe residential systems instead of temporary or slum-like dwellings.

“That is the top priority,” he said, “while other measures are only temporary. These should not just be just places to live, but also spaces with access to culture, healthcare, and education for urban residents. Only with state leadership can this issue be resolved fundamentally.”

Affordable social housing

Drawing on real-world experience, Ngan stressed that “social housing must be affordable, not merely low-priced. Given the rising cost of land and construction, focusing only on cheapness while ignoring quality will lead to unsafe, temporary housing zones.”

He suggested revising land policies, especially compensation and recovery prices, to protect residents’ rights, along with preferential credit and streamlined procedures for social and rental housing projects.

In addition, he urged a review of decentralization and administrative procedures in land management. He also proposed that during the 15th NA term, the standing committee should conduct a large-scale thematic supervision on housing development to promptly address policy gaps and ensure effective implementation.

“The greatest happiness for the people is having stable housing to study, work, and build a livelihood. That is the foundation of a civilized, stable, and sustainable society,” Ngan said.

Duy Anh