Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Only 28 percent ofindustrial zone workers are provided with stable accommodation, while therest have to rent houses with poor sanitation and infrastructure.

According to a nationwide report, by 2020, some 1.7million industrial parks workers will have a need for housing. However,the country has been only able to build 100 social housing projectswith 41,000 apartments for 330,000 workers.

The Government had tasked the Vietnam General Confederationof Labour with implementing Decision No.655/QD-TTg by the Prime Ministeron building trade union institutions in industrial and export processingzones with a focus on improving living conditions for workers andemployees.

In recent years, the Government has allocated a package forwhat it calls social housing projects, valued at a total of 30 trillion VND (1.3billion USD), but the package has not been enough to meet the demand foraffordable housing. 

Provinces and cities across the country report that226 social housing projects have been stopped or delayed.

By the end of 2018, there were 97,000 workers working in industrialzones in Hai Duong province. That figure is expected to rise to 248,000 in2030, when 62,000 will have demand for housing.

In Bac Ninh province, there are currently 152,000 workers,with 50 percent in need of housing.

Also in the northern province of Quang Ninh, the VietnamNational Coal and Mineral Industries Group has built 5,000 apartments,providing accommodation for more than 17,000 workers. However,that only meets 12 percent of the demand.

HCM City in the south estimated that it will be home toaround 400,000 workers at three industrial parks by 2020, requiring some280,000 apartments. However, the city currently has 40,000 homes for thatpurpose.

Vu Van Phan, Deputy Director of the Housing and Real EstateMarket Management Agency under the Ministry of Construction, said policieshave failed to encourage the private sector to invest in housingdevelopments for workers, making investors less interested in social housingprojects.

Besides, in many cities and provinces, leaders had notproperly followed a regulation to reserve 20 percent of the landarea used for commercial housing to build social housing. This leadsto a lack of land when it comes to the demand for social housing projects, Phansaid.

He said urgent policies and incentives are needed toencourage enterprises to develop social housing, including cutting red tapefor land clearance and administrative procedures, and allocatingState funds to cover the interest rate for commercial banks to provide loans(with preferential interest rates) for social housing developers./.