HCMC mulling over new real estate policies

                                                                Photo: Duc Anh

City's Department of Construction submits proposals for Property Market Development Project.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction (DoC) has recently proposed to the city’s People’s Committee a number of practical solutions for the city’s Property Market Development Project in the 2016-2020 Period, Orientation to 2025, and Vision to 2030.

By 2025 the average size of each household is expected to have fallen, with a subsequent rise in demand for housing and other types of real estate.

The DoC requested the establishment of a General Department of Housing Development to manage national housing development strategies and a department under the city’s People’s Committee managing local housing development.

It has also sent proposals to the National Assembly on effective policies for domestic and foreign investment attraction in the property market and investment in urban infrastructure focused on regional links.

A multi-center urban area should be developed, it proposed, together with a modern transport network of railways, metro lines, and rapid bus transit networks, aimed at connecting satellite urban areas with central urban areas and gradually reducing the high housing density found in certain central areas.

Diversified forms of real estate products have been proposed, boosting the condominium segment by setting a target of 30 per cent of new housing each year to be in the segment, increasing the proportion of rental housing, and encouraging social housing development.

The development of housing and other real estate products will also be promoted based on the redevelopment of existing urban areas, with a goal of over 50 per cent of new housing built annually to come from such projects.

The development of new types of real estate will be encouraged, like housing for rent, officetels, and condotels.

The city has attracted a large number of investors and workers from around the world and from other provinces and regional countries that share similarities in economics, urban development and population, according to the DoC.

The department has proposed the establishment of a Property Market Information Center under the city’s People’s Committee to manage, exploit data, complete and standardize market information, and create a property market assessment index to provide official information to the market.

The government should complete tax provisions to limit speculation in the housing market. DoC recommended cutting the tax rate on property transactions and that consideration be given to a pilot of new financial tools, for example property trust funds and housing saving funds, etc.

The report includes three main parts: an evaluation of the city’s current real estate market since 2006, an analysis of potential and the development of forecast for the city’s property market, and measures for sustainable development

Mr. Tran Du Lich, former Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City delegation at the National Assembly, told a meeting between the People’s Committee and departments involved in the project on October 13 that the project aims at government management only and it remains necessary to seek solutions to improve the health of the property market.

by Khanh Chi / vneconomictimes