At the Second Quarter 2017 press conference, the Ministry of Construction announced that by the end of June 2017, the program of social housing for low-income people in urban areas, industrial park workers and students has finished 184 projects with about 72,000 apartments. 195 more projects with 165,000 apartments are being carried out.
In the first six months of 2017, five social housing projects for low-income people and industrial park workers have been completed with a total of 1,225 apartments. Four others with about 2,220 apartments are still under construction.
89 in 95 projects for students have been completed; six others are in the finishing phase, providing accommodation for nearly 220,000 students.
According to the Ministry of Construction, the supply of social housing and low-cost commercial housing is much short of demand. Some projects are still behind schedule.
Currently, the Ministry of Construction is coordinating with relevant ministries and local authorities to clear the "bottlenecks" in allocating the budget for key projects. Additionally, unnecessary bureaucracy should be removed and businesses should be assisted in money borrowing to encourage and mobilize more resources for social housing projects.