Carilon Apartment - the first social housing project in Ho Chi Minh City developed without the use of state budget capital - will be finished and handed over to customers by the end of this year.

The project, launched in November last year at Hoang Hoa Tham street, ward 13 in Tan Binh district, has a total investment of 700 billion VND (32.9 million USD) invested by Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate JSC (Sacomreal).

Comprising of two blocks with 16 stories and a basement in each, the project offers 484 apartments, including 147 social apartments with an area of 51.6-69.4 square metres, with the same quality as commercial ones.

Customers buying social apartments will be assisted by the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam and Vietinbank through loans with an interest rate of six percent per year.

Ngo Vi Hung, General Director of Sacomreal, said the social apartments will be sold to public servants in Tan Binh district.

The company is also finalising documents for the implementation of two more similar projects in district 7 and district 2 with 2,000 apartments, one of which is scheduled to be launched in 2014, he added.-VNA