New Housing Law Enhancements for Social Housing Purchases

According to Article 78 of the 2023 Housing Law, individuals wishing to purchase social housing in a province different from their own must meet two criteria related to their housing situation and income level.

Previously, residents of Hanoi could only acquire social housing within the city. Now, they just need to demonstrate that they do not own property in Ho Chi Minh City.

This legislation also represents a significant advancement in administrative procedures. Prospective buyers need only confirm that their names do not appear on land or property use right certificates in the cities or provinces where the social housing schemes are planned to qualify for these housing options.

Furthermore, there has been an adjustment to the income limits for purchasing social housing. Specifically, individuals must earn no more than VND15 million per month, while married couples’ combined income cannot exceed VND30 million.

The procedures for developing social housing have also been streamlined under this new law.

During the project preparation phase, the law mandates either a 1/2000 subdivision plan or a 1/500 detailed plan. Social housing project developers are relieved from land use fees and are not subject to land price assessment or calculating land use and leasing fees.

However, if the developers engage in construction related to social housing projects, they are required to follow legal protocols for determining land prices and calculating land use fees.

For project execution and completion, the steps are now almost identical to those applicable to commercial housing projects.

According to the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business, contracts for transferring sales can only be signed for properties that are still under construction. There is some ambiguity regarding the application of this regulation to fully built houses.

Dung stated that this concern was raised during the drafting of the law. Generally, since the process of signing contracts and delivering future housing can be lengthy, developers might prefer the flexibility to transfer contracts.

“For existing buildings, the Law on Real Estate Business does not outline specific regulations, but it does not prohibit such transfers either,” Dung clarified.