HCMC to build another 1,300 social homes

The HCMC Department of Construction on Tuesday said the public housing projects are among measures to build low-price homes accessible to workers and people with low incomes and to replace dilapidated apartments and slum areas.

Two public housing projects will be in Thu Duc, including homes for workers at the Linh Trung 2 free-trade zone in Linh Trung Ward and the Long Truong Ward neighborhood. These projects will entail 1,086 homes and span 19,400 square meters. Construction is expected to begin next week.

In Binh Chanh District, a public housing project in Binh Hung Commune will begin construction on April 26 with 242 houses, spanning a total 3,700 square meters.

Besides new homes, HCMC will also renovate parts of the Thanh Da apartment complex in Binh Thanh District with 1,750 homes. These apartments were built before 1975 and are now dilapidated.

From 2016 to 2020, HCMC had built over 1.2 million square meters worth of public housing, providing shelter for over 66,000 people.

Around 1.3 million workers in the city demand housing, according to the HCMC Federation of Labor. But only around 3 percent live in apartment complex and other housing projects at industrial parks, while the rest live mostly in small, dilapidated apartments. Workers could spend up to 15 percent of their income just to pay rent.

Last year, the chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said the city would build a million low-price homes, accessible to those with low incomes, to replace dilapidated apartments.