At the seminar titled “Real Estate Credit: How to Control It for Sustainable Development,” held by Thanh Nien Newspaper on April 17, the director of Le Thanh Company revealed that despite a preferential lending rate of 6.1 percent for social housing, developers are still being turned away by banks.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Le Huu Nghia, Director of Le Thanh Company, said that although the official preferential rate for social housing stands at 6.1 percent, banks have refused to extend loans. Lenders argue that deposit interest rates remain too high, making it unprofitable to issue loans at such a low rate. However, when businesses propose borrowing at commercial housing rates instead, banks also decline, citing concerns over potential liability for lending to the wrong target group.
This predicament has left social housing developers struggling to access capital for their projects. “We urge regulators to swiftly introduce solutions to remove bottlenecks for social housing investors, enabling them to borrow at regulated interest rates,” Mr. Le Huu Nghia proposed.
Echoing these concerns, Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association, noted that the State Bank of Vietnam’s policy of capping credit growth in line with overall sector expansion—projected at around 15 percent—along with quarterly credit allocation requirements, has limited banks’ flexibility. He suggested that the central bank allocate annual credit quotas to commercial banks instead. In addition, he called on authorities to consider raising credit ceilings in the second quarter of 2026 to support the Government’s target of achieving double-digit economic growth.
From the banking perspective, Mr. Nguyen Le Nam, Director of the Retail Banking Division at Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), said that while interest rates have edged up, this does not necessarily translate into higher profits for banks. Commercial lenders are also wary of excessive rate hikes, as borrowers willing to accept high interest rates typically carry greater credit risk.
