Receiving social housing in Quang Ninh, many workers are determined to repay their debts early

The social housing project of Doi Nganh Residential Area, Ha Long Ward is the first social housing project in Quang Ninh, started on October 30, 2022 with 3 buildings, a total of 986 apartments, including 790 social housing units.

After the inauguration on August 19, 2025, by December 20, 2025, more than 740 households had their houses handed over.

In early December 2025, the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien - a worker at Ha Tu Coal Company - was one of the last households to receive an apartment in the project.

The apartment is 70m2 wide, including 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with a price of more than 1.1 billion VND (16.2 million VND/m2).

Before deciding to buy social housing, her family researched commercial apartment projects in Ha Long and Hong Gai wards but the price was double that.

Some other areas such as Bai Chay ward are far from work, buying land with a financial level of more than 1 billion VND, most of them are in small alleys, high hills, some places do not have red books.

Buying social housing is a lucky thing, and the luck is even better than receiving a preferential loan from the Social Policy Bank of Quang Ninh province with an interest rate of 5.4%/year.

My family borrowed about 70% of the apartment's value, with an interest of about 38 million VND per year. With a total income of about 25 million VND/month for the couple, after deducting living expenses for the couple, two children and apartment services of about 2.3 million VND/month, according to my calculation in 10 years, the family will have paid both the principal and interest" - Ms. Hien shared.

According to Ms. Doan Thi Thuy Duong - a household buying social housing in Doi Nganh Residential Area, the current interest rate is still a big pressure for young families.

Before August 1, 2024, the interest rate for social housing loans at the Social Policy Bank was fixed at 4.8%/year; then increased to 6.6%/year and from October 10, 2025, decreased to 5.4%/year. If 4.8% is re-applied, workers will have less financial burden and have the opportunity to repay debts earlier. My family also set a goal of paying off the debt ahead of schedule to soon stabilize our lives" - Ms. Duong shared.

According to the Social Policy Bank of Quang Ninh province, implementing Decree No. 100/2024/ND-CP of the Government, detailing a number of articles of the Housing Law on the development and management of social housing, up to now, the unit has disbursed loans to 2,550 customers for construction, repair, purchase and lease-purchase of social housing, with a total outstanding debt of about 1,070 billion VND.

In the Doi Banh project alone, there have been 384 customers borrowing capital, with a total outstanding loan balance of about 143 billion VND.

As of November 30, 2025, the whole province of Quang Ninh has implemented 16 social housing projects, workers' housing with a scale of about 65 hectares and more than 18,800 apartments. Of which, 2,464 units in 4 social housing projects have been completed, including: Doi Ngan Hang Social Housing Project (986 units); Dong Mai Industrial Park Workers - Experts Housing Area (400 units, 335 units in the target have not been implemented); Sunhome Social Housing Area at Van Don Airport (100 units are completed, 300 units are still unconstructed); and the social housing area at the 20% land fund of the Ha Khanh Ward Urban Area Project - now Cao Xanh Ward - Phase 1 with 978 units.

Thus, in 2025 alone, Quang Ninh has completed 2,464 social housing units, exceeding the target of 2,201 units assigned by the Prime Minister, contributing to the realization of social security policies and stable housing for workers.

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