The meeting was attended by Pham Gia Tuc, leaders from the Ministries of Construction, Finance, Justice, Agriculture and Environment, the State Bank of Vietnam, and the Government Office, as well as senior provincial and municipal officials.

Strong Shift Toward Affordable and Rental Housing

Representatives of Hai Phong and the four provinces reported that they have actively shifted their housing development strategies from focusing primarily on commercial housing toward a more diversified model. Particular emphasis is now being placed on:

Social housing (NOXH)
Worker accommodation
Long-term rental housing

These are viewed as strategic, long-term solutions to ensure access to affordable and legal housing, especially for industrial workers and low-income households.

Hai Phong’s Social Housing Progress

Following recent administrative restructuring and urban expansion, Hai Phong faces growing demand for affordable housing due to:

Increased migration of workers.
Housing needs of public servants and armed forces personnel.
The planned relocation of 9,002 households from aging apartment complexes.

To address these challenges, the city has launched 28 social housing projects comprising approximately 33,477 apartments.

For the period 2021–2030, Hai Phong expects to complete 54,444 social housing units, equivalent to 110% of the target assigned by the Government.

The provinces of Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, and Ninh Binh have also reported positive results, exceeding their social housing development targets for the 2021–2025 period.

Expansion of Rental Housing for Workers

Hai Phong currently operates a stable stock of rental social housing with subsidized rental rates and has already put several modern worker accommodation projects into operation.

Bac Ninh and Hung Yen are accelerating worker housing projects linked to the expansion of industrial parks and economic zones.
Local authorities are increasingly prioritizing rental housing rather than ownership-only housing models.
Challenges Identified

Despite positive progress, the participants acknowledged several persistent issues:

Housing supply remains heavily concentrated in units for sale rather than rental housing.
Limited public funding for state-owned housing assets.
Existing incentive policies are insufficient to attract large-scale private investment.
Key Recommendations from Local Governments

The five localities proposed several special policy mechanisms, including:

Allowing manufacturers in industrial parks and economic zones to use lawful capital to purchase social housing units and lease them to workers.
Providing long-term fixed-interest subsidies for both developers and homebuyers through government funding or the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies.
Allowing local governments to subsidize interest rates beyond existing preferential lending programs.
Using state budget resources to support land clearance costs for urban apartment redevelopment projects.
Prime Minister’s Directives

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung praised the proactive efforts of Hai Phong and the four provinces and emphasized that demand for social and rental housing remains extremely high while available resources are limited.

He instructed ministries and local authorities to:

Develop synchronized and effective implementation plans.
Ensure citizens have access to stable, safe, and affordable housing.
Prioritize rental housing development, especially apartment rental projects in major urban centers, industrial parks, economic zones, growth regions, and strategic economic corridors.
Integrate social housing development with urban planning, transportation, and social infrastructure.
Introduce new mechanisms to attract private-sector investment.

The Prime Minister stressed that all localities should carefully assess actual housing demand and formulate detailed implementation roadmaps.

Immediate Targets for 2026

The Prime Minister set specific short-term goals:

By June 2026, each locality should commence construction of at least one rental housing project.
During the third and fourth quarters of 2026, larger-scale rental housing projects should be launched.
Local governments must prepare investment, construction, and operational plans for rental housing and submit them to the Prime Minister.
Policy Development and Financial Support

The Prime Minister assigned ministries to review and consolidate local recommendations in order to formulate special mechanisms that can remove current obstacles.

The Ministry of Finance was tasked with urgently developing guidance on:

Managing revenues from social housing obligations paid in cash.
Protecting capital used for rental housing investment.
Tax and financial incentives for long-term rental housing projects.

The State Bank of Vietnam was instructed to design preferential credit policies for rental housing developers, including:

Stable interest rates.
Loan terms aligned with project payback periods.
Potential refinancing mechanisms and flexible credit limits for participating commercial banks.
Conclusion

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung expressed confidence that, with strong political commitment and innovative approaches, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, and Ninh Binh will make significant breakthroughs in social and rental housing development, strengthen social welfare, and contribute to Vietnam’s sustainable development goals.

On behalf of the participating localities, Le Ngoc Chau affirmed that Hai Phong and the four provinces would promptly translate the Prime Minister’s directives into concrete action plans and mobilize the entire political system, business community, and citizens to achieve the stated objectives.