In Ho Chi Minh City, on June 9, at a conference on rental housing development and investment promotion, 13 organizations and developers committed to building nearly 100,000 units of social rental housing.
The initiative is part of a strategy to expand the affordable housing stock in Vietnam's largest city, where population growth and real estate prices continue to intensify the demand for affordable housing.
During the 2021–2025 period, only 17,902 units of social housing were put into operation in Ho Chi Minh City, which is significantly below the city's actual needs.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), approximately 974,000 people in the expanded city area need to rent, buy, or lease social housing. This primarily includes factory workers, students, young families, and migrant workers.
According to city authorities' plans, more than 181,000 units of social housing are expected to be built in Ho Chi Minh City between 2026 and 2030, including approximately 50,000 units designated for rent.
The largest commitment was made by the city's Housing Development Fund (HOF), which announced its readiness to build 25,000 rental units. The Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation and the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) also committed to building 10,000 units each. RESCO Corporation announced the construction of 1,755 housing units.
Among private companies, CT Group made the largest commitment with 20,000 housing units. Bcons Company pledged to build another 10,000 units. The initiative also includes Novaland (6,000 units), Kim Oanh Group (5,000), Vingroup (4,500), Thien Phat (3,150), Duc Manh (2,000), Nam Long ADC (1,000), and Le Thanh Company (800).
According to Nguyen Cong Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the demand for rental housing in the city, whose population has increased to approximately 14 million people after a recent administrative reform, is rapidly growing.
Authorities note that the current market structure remains unbalanced. Despite high demand from low- and middle-income citizens, the majority of new supply still consists of high-end projects.
Authorities are also considering converting part of the unused resettlement housing stock and other state-owned properties into rental housing, and for new projects, they intend to implement an expedited approval process.