Feature: Vietnamese low-income earners desperate for budget houses

Whenever her suitor or co-workers call round, Vietnamese garment worker Nguyen Thi Loan struggles to make her eight-meter-square room look more spacious, and mutters "If only..."

Loan's room is typical of those in her boarding house on Phan Huy Thuc Road in District 7 of Ho Chi Minh City. Her lodging is spartan, with just enough room to fit a single bed, a small wardrobe, and an electric rice cooker. Whenever her guests visit, they either sit on the floor or the bed or both, depending on the number of people.

"Our company has two dormitories, but they don't have enough rooms for all 1,800 workers. That's why I have to rent this room for 1.5 million Vietnamese dong (67 U.S. dollars), which is half of my total monthly income," Loan, who works for garment maker Hung Way, in the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in District 7, told Xinhua recently.

The young woman said she can't make ends meet, so to keep from starving she earns extra money by selling grilled sausages on the street on Sundays.

"I want to open a street-side restaurant to earn more money. And then I'll be able to save money to buy a social house (low-cost apartments built by companies with state assistance). If only Ho Chi Minh City had cheap houses like Binh Duong does," a gloomy looking Loan said.

The southern Binh Duong province is the first Vietnamese locality to have sold low-cost apartments at a price of 100 million Vietnamese dong (nearly 4,500 U.S. dollars) for a 30-square-meter unit. On Jan. 25, the Vietnamese prime minister issued an instruction to accelerate social housing development.

Binh Duong has a population of some 2 million people, with 52 percent being immigrants, which is the highest immigrant rate in Vietnam. Most of the immigrants work in industrial parks. Therefore, the provincial authorities have prioritized social housing development.

Binh Duong currently has 85 social housing projects, including 43 which have been developed by local firm Becamex, covering a total area of 3.1 million square meters and comprising 70,000 apartments, according to the provincial Construction Department.

After four years of implementation, 25 projects with a total housing area of more than 491,000 square meters have been completed. In addition, some 200 enterprises in the industrial parks in the province have constructed dormitories and houses for their workers, with the premises spanning 270,000 square meters.

Currently, the total social housing area in Binh Duong has increased to 761,000 square meters with 16,900 apartments built, which meets around 17 percent of demand for low-income earners.

Households and individuals, in addition, have built around 180,000 boarding homes which accommodate 540,000 people, meeting 55 percent of demand for low-income earners, including students.

According to Vietnamese realty experts, Binh Duong can develop such inexpensive apartments mainly because the provincial authorities are determined to do so, and real estates developers know how to cut construction costs properly.

During the initial urban development planning, Binh Duong set aside at least 7 percent of total residential land for social housing development, and also allocated public land to private companies to build low-cost apartments.

The companies use module-based construction designs and build 5-story apartment blocks without elevators to cut costs.

Most of the apartments are 30 square meters in size with 20-square meters as floor space and a 10-square meter as a mezzanine. The compact apartments sell for 100 million Vietnamese dong. The apartments on the first floor of the blocks, however, are 45 square meters in size and sell for around 400 million Vietnamese dong (nearly 17,900 U.S. dollars).

To own a budget apartment in Binh Duong, buyers have to pay only 10-20 million Vietnamese dong (446-893 U.S. dollars) as a downpayment, and pay the rest in installments over 15 years with preferential interest rates. The provincial authorities have also allowed buyers to re-sell their apartments after three years of living in them.

"If Ho Chi Minh City had cheap apartments and favorable policies like Binh Duong, I would buy one," Loan said.

Her wish is not unrealistic. Ho Chi Minh City is making strides to follow Binh Duong's footsteps.

"Like Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City can build 30-square meter apartments to sell for between 100-200 million Vietnamese dong in areas such as the Linh Trung Export Processing Zone, the Hi-Tech Zone, the Quang Trung Software Park, the Ho Chi Minh City National University, and the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone," Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estates Association, told Xinhua on Monday.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Construction Department's social housing development plan, from 2017 to 2020, the city will develop 39 projects which will create 45,000 apartments, Chau said, adding that by 2020, some 30,000 apartments will be put into use.

In 2017, the city will complete four social housing projects with a total of 1,654 apartments, Chau added.

Recent surveys by the department have shown that some 500,000 families, around 139,000 public servants, and 284,000 workers in Ho Chi Minh City have yet to own a house or an apartment.

Universities and colleges in the city have more than 400,000 students and staff, so demand for low-cost apartments is very high.

"We have proposed the municipal authorities work with the Ho Chi Minh City National University, the Ministry of Education and Training, and other relevant agencies to coordinate building dormitories and social houses for sale and for rent," said Chau.

If such plans are realized, it will be sensational news for Tuan Anh, 35, who works at the Ho Chi Minh City National University. He has had to rent houses for years, as have many of his colleagues.

"Seeing as I don't own a house or an apartment, some of my female friends feel insecure, so they are reluctant to advance our relations to marriage."

"If apartment prices were low enough for me to be able to afford one, I would quickly have a wife," the local man in his mid-thirties told Xinhua on Monday, with a cheeky grin. Endit