Social housing: Building institutions, building the future

The meeting was not only a review of progress but also a political declaration reflecting the Government’s vision for inclusive development: leaving no one behind on the journey of settling down – starting a business – developing. In the Prime Minister’s mind, social housing is no longer a mere welfare policy, but a powerful macroeconomic, microeconomic and institutional lever, if properly designed and operated intelligently.

Social housing – the “shock absorber” of the economy

The Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasized that social housing "reflects the characteristics and good nature of the regime... no matter how difficult it is, it must be done." Indeed, social housing is one of the public goods with the largest spillover effect: each dong invested in housing results in 1.5-2 dong of GDP spillover, promoting the steel, cement, materials, equipment, labor and finance industries to operate together.

When the commercial real estate market slows down, social housing projects become "cycle stabilizers", maintaining the rhythm of employment and domestic aggregate demand. At the macro level, developing social housing serves as a flexible economic regulation tool, similar to infrastructure investment - but with an even deeper social significance.

Moreover, social housing also helps reduce living costs and increase purchasing power. Housing currently accounts for 25-40% of urban household expenditure; When this cost is reduced, people have more room for consumption, savings, and investment – the true engines of sustainable domestic demand.

In particular, maintaining reasonable rental prices also helps control inflation – since housing prices are an important component of the consumer price index (CPI). In other words, the social housing policy is an implicit macroeconomic policy, contributing to economic stability while still strengthening social welfare.

The soft infrastructure of productivity growth

In the new growth model shaped by the Party, the State, and the Government, labor productivity and human capital quality stand at the core. To raise productivity, investment cannot focus only on machinery but also the quality of labor, including the living and working conditions of workers.

Many major industrial zones in Vietnam currently face a harsh reality: migrant workers living in temporary, substandard housing and spending hours commuting each day. This represents a huge social energy cost, undermining efficiency and workers’ confidence. With a well-planned social housing system linked to employment, factory workers can live near their workplaces, teachers, nurses, and grassroots police officers can settle close to their duty stations. Reduced commuting and living expenses translate into higher productivity and lower turnover rates — a dual benefit for both citizens and enterprises.

A well-functioning social housing network is also a prerequisite for attracting high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI). Global corporations now assess a locality’s competitiveness not only by its tax incentives but also by the “quality of life for workers.” Countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea have all leveraged housing policies to retain high-tech investors.

For Vietnam, social housing represents the soft infrastructure of productivity — a key foundation for the economy to move to a development stage driven by innovation and high-quality human resources.

A fair and efficient income redistribution machine

In a market economy, if housing prices rise too far beyond household incomes, wealth inequality will inevitably expand. Housing is not only a place to live but also the primary means of asset accumulation for most families.

The Prime Minister has clearly recognized this risk. Therefore, he regards the development of social housing as an institutional tool for income redistribution, not a form of subsidy. When the State recaptures the added value from land, planning, and infrastructure investment, and returns that value to the people in the form of affordable housing, fairness is built directly into the policy structure.

Social housing also helps strengthen the young middle class, who are driving urban vitality and economic dynamism. A society can only be truly sustainable when workers can afford homes, feel secure in starting families, raise children, and maintain long-term ties with their communities.

As the Prime Minister said: “Investing in social housing is investing in the development of society and the nation.” Social housing, therefore, serves as a lever of fairness — a test of the State’s governance capacity and its humanism.

Building houses - building institutions

To make social housing become truly effective, it is not enough to simply build a few more housing areas, the entire institutional system for urban development must be reformed. As the Prime Minister himself affirmed: “Social housing should not be built in 'the middle of nowhere', 'with surplus land' but in places fully equipped with transportation, electricity, water, telecommunications, and social infrastructure.”

This means that every social housing project should be connected to public transport systems, industrial zones, schools, hospitals, and parks. The TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) model thus becomes a new spatial framework for modern urban planning.

At the same time, social housing also serves as an institutional laboratory for green development. It is where technologies for circular materials, solar energy, water and energy saving can be applied - thereby forming a domestic green technology market, serving the Net Zero target by 2050.

A breakthrough in the Prime Minister’s vision lies in the restructuring of land resources. When the State recaptures the added value of land and reinvests it into social housing, land is no longer a speculative tool, but becomes a fair asset of the whole society.

In other words, through social housing policy, Vietnam is reforming its entire urban development model — shifting from cities built for commerce to cities built for people.

The foundation of inclusive growth and national competitiveness

Social housing not only helps people settle down, but also creates competitiveness for the whole economy. In the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, "housing affordability and urban quality of life" are indicators of national competitiveness. A country where workers can live decently on their income is one with high innovation and strong social trust.

When workers and young people settle down, they invest more in education, skills and quality consumption. When businesses have a stable workforce, they invest with a long-term outlook. When people believe in the future, they walk alongside the State on the path of development.

That is the chain effect of inclusive growth - growth that leaves no one behind, nor trades social equity for short-term growth. From a strategic perspective, social housing is the "soft competitive infrastructure" of the knowledge economy - where productivity no longer comes from machines alone, but from people, community and trust.

The three breakthroughs the Government is pursuing.

The Prime Minister has outlined three breakthrough directions to turn this vision into reality:

Institutional breakthrough – perfecting the legal framework on land, finance, and planning to ensure that social housing is prioritized as essential infrastructure.

Implementation breakthrough – establishing clear decentralization and delegation: “localities decide – localities act – localities take responsibility.” This also means encouraging strong participation from private enterprises, associations, and cooperatives.

Resource mobilization breakthrough – promoting models such as public–private partnerships (PPP), urban bonds, housing savings funds, and long-term credit funds, while also introducing mandatory social housing targets in new urban planning projects.

The Government aims to transform social housing from a scattered policy into a national-scale development program, managed through digital data, transparent processes, and strict prevention of profiteering — ensuring that benefits reach those who truly need them.

What our Party and State are advancing is, in essence, building homes to build institutions, building homes to nurture hope.

Building houses - building the future

Social housing is an implicit macroeconomic policy, not just a welfare one. It creates jobs for today, strengthens productivity for tomorrow, and maintains social stability for the future.

When every citizen has a decent roof to live in, the country will have a solid foundation for development. That is the vision of our Party and State – a humane, practical and enlightened vision: Developing social housing is not just building houses, but building the future of the country.

Dr. Nguyen Si Dung