On the morning of November 11, 2025, Vietnam's Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính convened the third meeting of the Central Steering Committee on housing policy and the real estate market. This gathering, which connected officials from 34 provinces and cities nationwide, came at a pivotal moment for the country's ambitious social housing program—a program widely viewed as both an economic and social lever for the nation’s future.
According to a report from the Ministry of Construction, the scale of Vietnam’s social housing effort is unprecedented. As of November 2025, there are 696 social housing projects underway across the country, representing a planned total of 637,048 residential units. Of these, 191 projects have been completed, adding 128,648 units to the national housing stock. Another 195 projects, accounting for 123,057 units, are currently under construction, while 310 projects with a combined 385,343 units have received investment approval but have not yet broken ground.
The numbers alone are striking, but the pace of progress has accelerated in recent months. In the ten months leading up to October 2025, 82 new projects commenced, bringing 89,888 units into the construction phase. Of these, 61,890 units have already been completed, and the government expects an additional 29,692 units to be finished by the year’s end.
Yet, as the country races toward its 2025 target—investing in the construction of approximately 1,062,200 social housing units as outlined in the national plan—success is not uniform across all regions. Major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Hue, along with provinces like Bac Ninh, Nghe An, and Phu Tho, are on track to meet or even exceed their assigned targets. However, other areas, including Can Tho City and the provinces of Son La, Ha Tinh, Lang Son, Lam Dong, Gia Lai, and An Giang, are struggling to keep pace.
Thanh Hóa province offers a telling case study in both the promise and the challenges of the social housing initiative. Under directives from the Prime Minister and decisions such as the one laid out in Decision No. 444/QĐ-TTg on February 27, 2025, Thanh Hóa has pushed aggressively to meet its assigned goals. Since the previous meeting of the Steering Committee on October 11, 2025, the province has completed 437 social housing units, bringing its total to 2,201. Authorities there are working to resolve bottlenecks for investors and streamline the process of verifying eligible buyers. The province aims to finish 4,877 units out of the 5,249 assigned by year’s end—a projected completion rate of 93%.
But beneath these impressive numbers lies a more complex reality. As reported by leading Vietnamese news outlets, the price of social housing—meant to be a lifeline for low-income citizens—is increasingly out of reach for the very people it is designed to help. Take, for example, the social housing project in Thượng Thanh, which began sales on October 1, 2025, with units priced at nearly 30 million VND per square meter. Other projects launched at the end of 2025 have prices exceeding 20 million VND per square meter. In just two years, the cost of many social housing projects has doubled; apartments at Rice City (Long Biên) have climbed from 2.3–2.4 billion VND to over 4 billion VND, while Hope Residence (Việt Hưng) now approaches 4.2 billion VND.
These soaring prices have raised alarms among policymakers and experts alike. The social housing segment, once considered the cornerstone of affordable living for low-income workers, now risks drifting into the territory of commercial real estate. According to local reports, "the price of social housing is increasingly exceeding the affordability of low-income groups." This is a development that runs counter to the original spirit of the program.
At the national level, the government is not blind to these issues. Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has repeatedly stressed that all stakeholders—state agencies, enterprises, and individuals—must actively and decisively promote social housing development with transparency and accountability. In his words: "All stakeholders must make efforts, be proactive, and have high determination, in which the State plays a facilitating role, businesses must take the lead, public-private cooperation must go hand in hand, develop a healthy, sustainable real estate market, contribute to macroeconomic stability, ensure social security, a prosperous country, and a happy people."
To address the overheating of social housing prices, experts and officials are calling for a multifaceted approach. Solutions include reducing input costs for developers, lowering land use fees, reforming cumbersome administrative procedures, and increasing financial support for buyers. There is also a strong push for stricter monitoring to ensure that units are sold at the correct prices and to the intended beneficiaries—measures designed to prevent speculation and the transformation of social housing into de facto commercial properties.
Another promising strategy gaining attention is the long-term rental model for social housing. This approach, as highlighted by several reports, "is considered a correct direction to reduce sales pressure, ensure social welfare, and promote sustainable real estate market development." By offering affordable rental options, the government can ease the demand for ownership, keep prices in check, and provide stability for workers and low-income families.
The government, for its part, has taken concrete steps to remove barriers for social housing projects. Institutional, legal, financial, and land-related obstacles have been targeted for reform. The goal is to improve the supply of social housing, especially for low-income groups, workers, and laborers, and to ensure that the process is fair and accessible. The Ministry of Public Security has also been tasked with monitoring the situation closely, cracking down on violations and preventing abuses that could distort this "very humane policy of the Party and the State."
Transparency and accountability are the watchwords of this new phase. The Prime Minister has directed all relevant ministries, departments, and localities to review their assigned tasks, identify what has been accomplished, what remains unfinished, and what obstacles persist. Solutions must be targeted and effective, with a particular focus on verifying the eligibility of beneficiaries to prevent policy abuse.
In the broader context, the social housing initiative is regarded as a "dual lever"—simultaneously addressing the housing needs of the population and acting as a catalyst for economic growth. As Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính put it, "We consider investment in social housing as investment for the development of society and the country." From 2025 to 2030, this mission is seen as one of the government’s top priorities, aiming not only to provide shelter but also to create jobs, boost economic activity, and ensure social stability.
As the end of 2025 approaches, Vietnam’s social housing campaign stands at a crossroads. The progress is undeniable, but so are the challenges. The next steps—balancing affordability with supply, enforcing transparency, and innovating with rental models—will determine whether the promise of social housing can be fully realized for all Vietnamese citizens who need it most.