Wedoany.com Report-Mar 21, The Vietnamese government has picked Hanoi-based conglomerate Vingroup to build 500,000 affordable housing units, half of the million units the government promised by 2030 four years ago.

An aerial image of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital

In 2023 it was expected that 428,000 would be completed by this year, VnExpress reports. But to date, only 66,755 units – 7% of the promised total – have been built since 2021.

This move to revive the government’s $36bn housing plan comes amid soaring house prices in the country. New construction can’t keep up with demand, putting a strain on affordable housing stock.

The government also sees abundant housing as a way to tackle the country’s fast-dwindling working-age population.

The delay has been blamed on long tendering processes, administrative issues, land procurement and the non-release of funding.

The intent was to build the homes not in remote areas, but in cities, for factory workers and those on low incomes.

“This is not a mere issue of accommodation, it is also a policy to boost population,” said Vietnam’s prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, Nikkei Asia reports.

“We are deterring our aging population by removing the two-child policy. But how will families have a third child if they are living in a home of merely 10, 15, or 20 square meters?”

Vietnam’s working age population has decreased each year since 2014.

The World Bank says the country is on course to be an “aged society” in 10 years.