Many banks are offering housing loans to low-income people but the income cutoff for buying houses meant for the poor is so low that most are too poor to buy them.
Low-income people can get 70 percent of the cost of a house for a maximum of 25 years from Techcombank.
Vietinbank lends 80 percent for 15 years.
However, only people with a lower than average monthly income – currently at 3.75 million VND (187.5 USD) — are eligible for houses meant for the poor.
But at this level of income, repaying a loan is usually an impossible task.
Le Thi Hue, a teacher at Nhat Tan Elementary School in Hanoi, for instance, said: "Possessing a house is a pipe dream for me and my husband since our family's total monthly salary is 10 million VND (500 USD)."
Assuming a low-cost house costs around 800 million VND (40,000 USD), she has to borrow at least 600 million VND (30,000 USD). At around 15 percent, the annual interest at the beginning is 90 million VND (4,500 USD), or 7.5 million VND (375 USD) a month.
She said her family cannot manage to pay the interest plus the principal even if they stopped eating food.
To compound the problem, it is hard for many people to access loans from banks which require a minimum family income of around 16 million VND (800 USD).
Nguyen Thanh Toai, deputy director of ACB, admitted this was a paradox.
Even if a potential borrower surmounts all these problems, the tortuous procedures at banks pose one more hurdle.
To get a loan, the borrower must have a family registration book and a KT3 — or a temporary residential certificate — in the same area as the bank branch or a long-term labour contract/.
Low-income people can get 70 percent of the cost of a house for a maximum of 25 years from Techcombank.
Vietinbank lends 80 percent for 15 years.
However, only people with a lower than average monthly income – currently at 3.75 million VND (187.5 USD) — are eligible for houses meant for the poor.
But at this level of income, repaying a loan is usually an impossible task.
Le Thi Hue, a teacher at Nhat Tan Elementary School in Hanoi, for instance, said: "Possessing a house is a pipe dream for me and my husband since our family's total monthly salary is 10 million VND (500 USD)."
Assuming a low-cost house costs around 800 million VND (40,000 USD), she has to borrow at least 600 million VND (30,000 USD). At around 15 percent, the annual interest at the beginning is 90 million VND (4,500 USD), or 7.5 million VND (375 USD) a month.
She said her family cannot manage to pay the interest plus the principal even if they stopped eating food.
To compound the problem, it is hard for many people to access loans from banks which require a minimum family income of around 16 million VND (800 USD).
Nguyen Thanh Toai, deputy director of ACB, admitted this was a paradox.
Even if a potential borrower surmounts all these problems, the tortuous procedures at banks pose one more hurdle.
To get a loan, the borrower must have a family registration book and a KT3 — or a temporary residential certificate — in the same area as the bank branch or a long-term labour contract/.
