Vietnam social housing report 2023

VIETNAM

2023 SOCIAL HOUSING

A HOME

INTRODUCTION

By the end of 2023, Vietnamwill reach 100 million people, making it the 3rd most populous in the ASEAN region, after Indonesia and the Philippines and 15th in the world. Meanwhile, the country’s urbanization ratio increased from 20% in 1993 to more than double in 2022 with 41.7%. Such rapid urbanization can promote economic growth, but also widen the wealth gap. The housing price in Vietnam is now about 20 times higher than the average annual income per capita, making it increasingly difficult for a Vietnamese to achieve homeownership. This situation raises a need for balancing measures, particularly the development of more social housing(*) as an instrument for the insurance of social security and the promotion of sustainability for the real estate market. Consequently, Vietnam’s government has taken initiatives to realize this target and help people improve their living quality through allocating resources to build 1 million social housing units for factory workers; a US$5 billion credit package for the development of social housing projects and workers’ housing projects; amendment of the Housing Law 2014 to add more open policies and attractive incentives; and other related policies to promote social housing development. Up until the beginning of 2023, Vietnam had completed 301 social housing projects in urban areas and workers’ housing projects in industrial zones, with a total scale of nearly 156,000 units. About 401 projects are prepared to be built, with a total scale of about 454,000 units. However, this still cannot fully satisfy demand for this type of housing, according to the survey by MOC, which states that the demand for social housing for low-income workers in industrial zones is about 2.4 million units for the 2021 – 2030 period. Specifically, if the existing completed supply and future supply are taken into account, the market will still be short of more than 1 million units, equivalent to 51% of the total demand. To keep you informed with the most recent developments, and explore potential opportunities in this under-supplied sector, Cushman &Wakefield hereby presented our new research publication: A HOME FOR ALL. We hope that this publication will put you, our Valued Clients, and Readers at the center of What’s Next in the Vietnam real estate market.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 Market Landscape 02 Regional Case Studies 03 Laws & Regulations

DISCLAIMER

The information provided by Cushman & Wakefield in the draft 2023 amendment is for reference purposes only. Our company makes no warranty regarding the accuracy, adequacy, or validity of any information in the 2023 draft amendment since the 2023 amendment is formatted as a Draft and has not been officially approved by the Government. All statements below are hypothetical and ineffective until such draft documents are approved. Therefore, policies and opinions could change at any time without any notice. The two terms “public housing” and “social housing” are going to be used interchangeably. FORALL

Trang Bui Country Head of Vietnam bui.trang@cushwake.com

MARKET LANDSCAPE

KEY FACTORS IMPACT SOCIAL HOUSING

Vietnam’s government has taken initiatives to reach the social housing target and help people improve their living quality, through allocating resources to build 1 million social housing units for factory workers; a US$5 billion credit package for the development of social housing projects and workers’ housing projects; amendment of the Housing Law 2014 to add more open policies and attractive incentives; and other related policies to promote social housing development. Up until the beginning of 2023, Vietnam had completed 301 social housing projects in urban areas and workers’ housing projects in industrial zones, with a total scale of nearly 156,000 units. About 401 projects are prepared to be built, with a total scale of about 454,000 units. However, this still cannot fully satisfy demand for this type of housing, according to the survey by MOC, which states that the demand for social housing for low-income workers in industrial zones is about 2.4 million units for the 2021 – 2030 period. Specifically, both the completed and pipeline supply will only meet about 20 – 30% of the total demand.

There are two common structures of social housing in Vietnam: apartments or houses attached to the land. For apartments, there will be three types of total area corresponding to the number of bedrooms, in which, 1-bedroom apartments fall around 46 m2, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments can be as large as as 46-51-57-69. m2. For the landed house, they typically come in from 1 to 3 floors and the land area is about 50 to 75 m2. Social housing is classified as a priority real estate group, therefore, not all people can buy and own social housing. Specifically, social housing is geared towards lower-income households to ensure social security, workers in industrial zones and groups of people with meritorious services in wartimes. The majority of social housing projects are developed by domestic developers. A few examples are HUD Vietnam, BIC Vietnam and Him Lam in the Northern region. The Central region has Xuan Phu Hai, Saigon Invest Group and Vicoland; And the South has Nam Long, Hoang Quan and Sacomreal and many other investors.

PROVINCES WITH THE HIGHEST SOCIAL HOUSING TARGET BY 2030 PROVINCES/ CITY TOTAL DEMAND (UNITS) TARGET 2030 (CĂN) HCMC 345,388 69,750 Binh Duong 115,836 86,877 Long An 310,000 71,250 Binh Phuoc 84,489 44,243 Ha Noi 136,000 56,250 Bac Ninh 128,327 72,185 Bac Giang 99,928 74,946 Hung Yen 56,700 42,525 Nghe An 77,750 39,895 Hai Phong 52,700 33,476

LEGAL & POLICY FRAMEWORK

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

INVESTMENT & FINANCING

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS

INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES

SUSTAINABILITY

Source: The Ministry of Construction (MOC), Vietnam Disclaimer: The data above are estimated based on the actual situation of published social housing projects.​

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION EFFICIENCY

This only includes projects that have announced the number of total units.

FIGURE 1:

OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL HOUSING MARKET 2023

Source: The Ministry of Construction (MOC), Vietnam

Disclaimer: The presented statistic are based on the best available data collected from MOC and is for reference purposes only.

REGIONAL CASE STUDIES

HONG KONG

The government of Hong Kong adopts a “Long Term Housing Strategy” (“LTHS”) to establish strategic supply-led and flexible directions for the public housing sector, where the strategy aims to: (i) provide public rental housing options through the utilization of existing stock; (ii) expand public housing ownership through circulating of existing stock and development of new supply; and (iii) regulate land supply and demand to stabilize public & private-owned residential market. Notably, the LTHS update in 2018 pushed the public/private ratio of new housing supply from 60:40 to 70:30, with a target of 301,000 units of total public housing supply between the 2023-24 to 2032-33 period. Design Approach Hong Kong Housing Authority is applying a “site specific” modular design approach on public housing development. Specifically, the regulation allows flexibility in space utility, and it dictates a range of flat / apartment areal planning, where: “1-or-2-person” units are not >18 sq.m; “2-or-3 person” units are not >22 sq.m; single-bedroom units are not >31 sq.m; and two-bedrooms are not >40 sq.m. Furthermore, public housing units

in Hong Kong are rationally designed between kitchen & bathroom against living & sleeping areas for flexible partitioning and ventilation. Regulations: Hong Kong vs. Vietnam Vietnam’s social housing program includes regulations on both apartments and low-rise townhouse projects since there is more land available in the country compared to that of HK. Hong Kong pushed for the 70:30 public/private housing ratio to further incentivize nationwide social housing investments. Whereas Vietnam established social housing quotas on new residential projects. Design Conformity: Hong Kong vs. Vietnam While apartment units are similarly regulated between Hong Kong and Vietnam in terms of area and unit options, Vietnam still lacks a standardized layout for social housing. Thus, Hong Kong’s typical social housing is of similar design, and therefore is cost-saving; Vietnam’s social housing has more options and configurations for buyers’ demands.

Hong Kong’s housing market is known for its unaffordability, thus leading to a critical & necessary position of strategic social housing development programs in the country.

TYPICAL PUBLIC-SOCIAL HOUSING FLOOR PLAN HONG KONG

STUDYING UNIT 1-bedroom / “3-or-4-person” flat ASSET TYPE Public (social) housing: apartment AREA RANGE 30 – 31 sq.m

- Modular design – self-installed partisan - Balcony included with hanging racks - Standardized door frame, power sockets, & water line - Improved lighting & ventilation - Middle to low-income individuals / Single families (2-3 people) - Available for subsidized rent or own

NOTE

TARGET CUSTOMERS

Source: Hong Kong Housing Bureau, Hong Kong, Legislative Council Panel on Housing, MPDI.

Regulations: Singapore vs. Vietnam

Singapore is currently pushing for bigger and taller social housing projects, or vertical cities with public amenities to be included for residents, due to the country’s limited landbank supply. Vietnam, on the other hand, is establishing unit quotas on social housing units, including both apartment type and low-rise townhouse-type of units. Singapore has stricter control than Vietnam on social housing resident selection with its demographic quotas and 99-year use right tenure. The government, then, can match buyers/tenants to the right unit. Design Conformity: Singapore vs. Vietnam Singapore’s HDB establishes guidelines on a standardized layout that helps to increase efficiency in project development. Furthermore, this government agency also collaborates with other state-owned enterprises to control material prices to reduce costs in developing social housing projects. Vietnam still depends upon developers to set their project designs and unit price based on development costs. This option, while provide options for buyers, are lesser effective in budget control.

Singapore’s land scarcity situation leads to vertical cities as the main housing supply for the mass population.

REGIONAL CASE STUDIES SINGAPORE

Singapore Housing Strategy The government agency responsible for housing in Singapore – the Housing & Development Board (“HDB”) has set two major strategy pairs for the public-social housing program: affordability & quality, and community & income security. Affordability & quality pair of strategy aims at delivering stable quality asset supply at an affordable financing program for buyers. The program funds through government-issued bonds which turns into loans & grants. The HDB would offer to sell assets and issue loans to families.

implementation on demographic quotas. These factors help determine the right targets for the right type of limited social housing.

TYPICAL PUBLIC-SOCIAL HOUSING FLOOR PLAN

SINGAPORE

Design Approach

HDB is geared towards maintaining efficiency, and productivity of the assets, though at a low development cost, by leveraging on government’s own company on materials, and the projects’ standardized design. HDB’s apartments are offered to a larger majority of the Singaporean public; thus, they are offered a wide range of options: from rental 1 and 2-bedroom units to 5-bedroom or 3-generation home ownership units. This helps to meet the high demands & varying needs of the residence.

STUDYING UNIT 4-rooms flat (3-bedrooms) ASSET TYPE Social housing: apartment AREA RANGE 85 – 90 sq.m

- Standardized layout design - Wide range of room options for residence demands - Concentration on public amenities for residence - Mass consumption from Singaporean population - Offer to families with kids

NOTE

Community & income stability comes through investments in social amenities and

TARGET CUSTOMERS

Cushman & Wakefield, Singapore HDB, Centre for LiveableCities Singapore, Global-is-Asian.

REGIONAL CASE STUDIES

SOUTH KOREA

From early on, the South Korean government realized the importance of a public-social housing system. In the 1970s, they established Korea Housing Company, currently known as Korea Land & Housing Company (LH). As of 2018, the company constituted 75% of the total public rental housing units in South Korea. LH directly undertakes urban and land development projects to build public housing and provide public housing (for sale/for rent) below market price. Public housing for sale is at around 80% of the market price while public housing for rent is at 50-80% of the market price, depending on the type.

into 10 income groups, the first is the low-income group and the tenth is the most affluent group. The support is divided into groups with the following characteristics: Groups unable to pay rent (group 1, group 2). The group cannot afford to buy their own house (group 3, group 4). The group that can afford to buy their own house with the help of the State (group 5, group 6) and the group that can buy a house on their own (group 7, 8, 9, 10). Each group is eligible to a separate type of public housing. The administrative procedures for projects with social housing will be greatly simplified. If the project plan is approved by the Government, more than 30 other relevant legal requirements can be reduced, particularly at the documentation stage and implementation stage. Meanwhile, social housing developers in Vietnam will have to go through lengthy administrative procedures, and profit margin is restricted to 10% and below. Design Conformity: South Korea vs. Vietnam South Korea and Vietnam set specific regulations for the unit type and unit size but no particular regulation for a unit layout similar to Singapore and Hong Kong.

South Korean public-social housing model is considered a successful case that provides Vietnam with important considerations for development policy.

Design Approach The government does not have specific

regulations on the design of public-social housing units, except for the unit area not exceeding 85 sq.m. Therefore, there can be diverse options: ranging from a single-person unit (21 sq.m), couple unit (31 sq.m) to a family unit (44 sq.m) which can house a young couple and a child.

Regulations: South Korea vs. Vietnam South Korean government divided the population

TYPICAL PUBLIC-SOCIAL HOUSING FLOOR PLAN SOUTH KOREA

STUDYING UNIT Family Unit ASSET TYPE Social housing: apartment AREA RANGE 44 sq.m

Includes: a master bedroom, two small bedrooms, two toilets, a living room, and a kitchen Adopts uniquely-engineered frame structures to free the unit layout, allowing for various interior spaces - Young Couple - Young Professionals - Need more storage space, lounge space, dining table, plus space for a young child

NOTE

TARGET CUSTOMERS

Project: Sejong Public Housing Development. Developer: Korea Land and Housing Corp.

Source: Bao Xay Dung, Korea Land & Housing Corporation

LAWS & REGULATIONS

TIMELINE Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

BEFORE 2005

2005

2011

2014

2023

HOUSING FOR STATE EMPLOYEES

HOUSING LAW 2005

A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIAL HOUSE

HOUSING LAW AMENDMENT 2014

DEVELOPING SOCIAL HOUSING ON A LARGE SCALE

The concept of social housing was firstly codified

- Targeting to develop one million units of social housing by 2030

No clear definition of social housing. The government only build houses for state employees to buy or lease with incentive.

- National housing development strategy to 2020 and vision to 2030

- Upgrade definition and beneficiaries of social housing

- Support package of VND 120,000 billion

- The first social housing project in Hanoi: CT1 Ngo Thi Nham in Ha Dong District

- Credit package of VND30,000 billion

GOVERNMENT’S POLICIES

2013 - 2016 X Credit support package of VND 30,000 billion was supplied by the Government to create favorable conditions to support the poor and low-income people to get loans to buy social housing. X Approximately 53,000 individuals and households have access to preferential credit to buy and repair houses. Thanks to this package, the solvency of the poor increased and the developers can overcome hurdles, accelerate consumption and reduce bad debt. 2018-2020 X Adding VND 3,000 billion credit package: About VND 1,000 billion for the Bank for Social Policy under Decree No. 71/2018/QH14 and an additional VND 2,000 billion for 4 commercial banks appointed by the State Bank to provide social housing loan support. X VND 3,000 billion credit package was added to provide social housing loans to support businesses and people to overcome difficult times and restore production and business activities affected by the COVID-19.

EXPECTED AMENDMENT OF SOCIAL HOUSING POLICY

1 2 3

2013 - 2023

2023 AMENDMENT

Incentives for developers: X Land use, land rent levy exemption X 50% VAT and CIT reduction X Receive support for investment in technical infrastructure inside and outside the project X Preferential loans at low interest rates X Investors can spend 20% total area within the social housing project for construction investment and commercial business

The developers of a commercial housing project of 10 ha (or 2 ha) or more in urban centers of grade 3 (or grade 1) or more are no longer required to reserve 20% of the residential land area in the project to build social housing.

The developers of a commercial housing project of 10 ha (or 2 ha) or more in urban centers of grade 3 (or grade 1) or more are required to reserve 20% of the residential land area in the project to build social housing.

The profit must not exceed 10% of total investment cost Loan interest rates must not exceed 50% of the average loan interest rates of commercial banks in the same period.

Provincial-level People’s Committees have to extract 10% of land use collected from commercial housing and urban area development projects for investment, construction of technical and social infrastructure, and traffic connection of the social housing project. The commercial developers will be no longer responsible for the implementation of social housing policies or for contributing to develop social housing.

Not regulated yet

The commercial developers will be responsible for the implementation of social housing policies or for contributing to develop social housing.

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

2023

LAWS & REGULATIONS: 1. Housing Law 2014: Article No.55, No. 69, No.50, No.95, No.92, No.42, No.88, No.51 2. Decree No.100/2015/ND-CP on social housing development and management 3. Decree No.49/2021/ND-CP: Amending and supplementing the number of articles of Decree No. 100/2015/ND-CP dated October 20th, 2015 of the Government on the development and management of social housing 4. Draft Law Amendment 2023 5. Resolution No.33/NQ-CP on solutions to remove and promote the safe, healthy, and sustainable development of the real estate market

X On March 12, VND 120,000 billion credit package was approved implementation by Bank of Vietnam. Loan rates for builders and homebuyers will be lower than 1.5-2% of the average lending rate of banks in the market in each period. X VND 120,000 billion credit package is implemented to push for the completion of least 1 million social housing apartments by 2030 and to support developers and buyers of social housing projects with low interest loans.

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

REGULATIONS IN VIETNAM RELATED

SOCIAL HOUSING

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO BUY SOCIAL HOUSING? X Persons who have contributed to the Revolution X Poor and near-poor households in rural areas X Households in rural areas which was frequently affected by natural disasters and climate change X Low-income people, poor and near-poor households in urban areas X Employees working at enterprises inside and outside the industrial park X Officers, non-commissioned officers, non-commissioned technical officers, professional military personnel, and workers in agencies and units under Public Security and People’s Army X Cadres, civil servants, and public employees in accordance with the law on cadres, civil servants and public employees X Persons who have returned public housing X Students of academies, universities, colleges, and vocational schools; Students of public boarding ethnic schools are allowed to use housing during their studies X Households and individuals subject to land confiscation and must demolish houses in accordance with law but have not been compensated by the State with housing or residential land

CONDITIONOF ELIGIBILITY

X Condition 1: Housing conditions X Person does own any houses, has not bought or rented social housing, has not inherited support policies, not owned land in any form at where they live, study or in case there is a house owned by them, the average housing area is less than 10 m2/person X Condition 2: Residence conditions X Must have permanent residence registration in the province or centrally run city where social housing is located. In case there is no permanent residence registration, there must be a temporary residence registration for one year or more in the province or city where social housing is located, except for the case in the 9th order X Condition 3: Income conditions X Must not be subject to regular income tax payment in accordance with the law on personal income tax. In other words, one must be a person with a monthly income of VND 11 million or less (132 million VND/ year) if there are no dependents X Must be poor or near-poor according to the regulations of the Prime Minister. X Borrowers of capital to buy or rent purchase social housing must satisfy

the conditions for borrowing capital as prescribed by the law on credit institutions.

In the process to register for social housing, buyers have to submit many documentations to prove their eligibility for social housing. This lengthy and complicated process made access to social housing increasingly difficult for residents with real, urgent housing needs. Background check is also a point of concern as there have been cases of developers selling social housing units for people outside of the eligibility list.

X Enterprises and co-operatives

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

SOCIAL HOUSING RELATED REGULATIONS

INDICATIVE GOALS TO FACILITATE CONSUMER-ORIENTED SOCIAL HOUSING PROGRAMS

STANDARDS FOR LOW-RISE TOWNHOUSE

Required to provide attractive incentives for developers to take on social housing projects; Issue detailed long-term supply growth plans for social housing units

GOVERNMENT POLICIES

01

URBAN PLANNING

X Must not exceed 70m 2 construction footprint X Maximum plot ratio: 2.0 X Must ensure conformity with the construction planning approved by the competent state agency.

Secures land bank and residential infrastructure for social housing not only in Tier 1 but also Tier 2 cities

02

05

DEVELOPER

STANDARDS FOR APARTMENT BUILDINGS

CONSUMER CHALLENGES

To develop immediate supply for the market; Standardize design & planning to reduce costs & product delivery timeline; Sustainable development, green building

Remains to face regulatory speculations on social housing support programs;

X Floor size must be between 25m2 and 70 m2 X Maximum plot ratio: 1.5 X Must follow Building code of Vietnam

Lacks housing options within populated areas, and/or proximity to employment;

MARKET CONTROL

X Can be adjusted by the provincial-level People’s Committees with conditions: - Not more than a 10% increase compared to the maximum apartment area of 70m2 - The proportion of apartments with a floor area of over 70m2 does not exceed 10% of the total number of apartments.

Manage primary & secondary transaction price, to avoid market mark-ups and/or speculations.

CONTRACTORS Manage costs & timeline required to prioritize delivery of social housing products

04

03

SOCIAL HOUSING PRICE The selling prices/rents are calculated base on the principle of comprising construction costs, interest loan (if any), operation cost, and nominated profit (maximum 10% off total investment costs). Two price plans in draft law amendment: X Plan 1: the developer calculates and identify selling prices/rents following above principles and submit to Provincial People’s Committee for appraisal and approval. X Plan 2: the developer calculates and decides to sell prices/rents following the above principles. When the project is completed, the developer conducts the final settlement and audit and returns to buyers the excessive amount of unit value (if any).

CONCLUSION: Like highways and bridges, social housing is a crucial infrastructure to provide stable living conditions for the majority of the labor force, who play an indispensable part in driving Vietnam’s economic growth and attracting foreign investment into the country. For developers planning to enter this sector in near future, it is very important to balance between the selling price, construction quality, and sustainable factors. It is crucial for developers to conduct thorough research and feasibility study before starting the project. The government’s effort to promote affordable housing have been commendable, though land availability, infrastructure linkages, better policies and financing structures are needed to give the necessary push to the sector and is crucial for the development of social housing to successfully provide a home for all in the next 10 years. - - -

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam

CUSHMAN &

CONTACTS

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RESEARCH & CONSULTANCY SERVICES

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