Are civil servants and public employees eligible for incentive policies on social housing in Vietnam?

Hello, The Editorial Board would like to answer the following:

1. Entities eligible for incentive policies on social housing in Vietnam

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 49 of the Law on Housing 2014, entities eligible for incentive policies on social housing include:

- People with meritorious services to the Resolution prescribed in law on preferential treatment for people with meritorious services to the Resolution;

- Households living in poverty or near poverty in rural areas;

- Households that are often affected by natural disasters or climate changes in rural areas;

- Individuals living in low income, poverty or near poverty in the urban areas;

…

- Officials and civil servants prescribed in law on officials and civil servants;

…

Thus, civil servants and public employees belong to the group of subjects who are entitled to preferential policies on support for buying/renting social housing.

2. Requirements for eligibility for incentive policies on social housing in Vietnam

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 51 of the Law on Housing 2014,  the entities eligible for the policies as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 50 of this Law shall satisfy the requirements pertaining to housing, residence, and income as follow:

- They have not had any house under their homeownership, have not concluded any agreements on social housing purchase, lease, or lease purchase, have not benefited from any policy on housing or residential land support in any shape or form at the places where they live, study, or have houses under their homeownership, but the floor space per capita in the household is lower than the minimum space standard regulated by the Government in every period and every area;

- They are required to register permanent residence in the province where the social housing is located; if not, they are required to register temporary residence in that province for at least one year;

- Civil servants and public employees are required to be not subject to regular income tax as prescribed in law on personal income tax; with respect to households living in poverty and near poverty, they must be subject to the households living in poverty and near poverty as prescribed in regulations of the Prime Minister. 

Thus, civil servants and public employees must be those who do not have a house under their ownership, have not been able to buy a house, residential land, etc., who are not subject to regular income tax, have enough grounds to enjoy the policy. loans to buy social housing.

3. Regulation on incentive policies on social housing in Vietnam

Pursuant to the provisions in Article 16 of Decree 100/2015/ND-CP on preferential loans to buy, rent, or lease-purchase social housing; or for the new construction, renovation, or repair of residential houses, as follows:

- Loan amount: For the purchase, lease, or lease purchase of social housing, the maximum loan amount is equal to 80% of the value of the contract to buy, rent, or lease-purchase a house.

- Loan interest rate:

+ The preferential lending interest rate at the Bank for Social Policies shall be decided by the Prime Minister at the proposal of the Board of Directors for each period.

+ Preferential lending interest rates at credit institutions shall be decided by the Prime Minister at the request of the State Bank of Vietnam for each period.

- Loan term: The minimum loan term is 25 years from the date of the first loan disbursement.

In case customers need to borrow for a shorter term than the minimum loan term, they can negotiate with the bank on a lower loan term.

- Paying loan principal and interest in accordance with regulations of the lending credit institution.

- Disbursement of loan capital: Loan capital is disbursed according to the agreement in the loan contract signed between households, individuals and lending credit institutions.

Thus, when buying social housing, public servants will be supported by the State with a maximum loan equal to 80% of the value of the house purchase contract and the maximum loan term is within 25 years and the interest rate will be specified from time to time.

More information: The preferential interest rate applied until the end of June 30, 2023 for home buyers is 8.2%/year. From July 1, 2023, every 6 months, Agribank will announce the loan interest rate during the preferential period of program implementation.

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