Building rental apartments requires a lot of money upfront, and the payback period is long.

The current rental market is mainly supplied by households and individuals with small apartments.

This segment meets the needs of students and low-income workers with affordable rents.

Real estate companies are not interested in rental housing due to low investment returns. Developing rental buildings requires a lot of money, but the cash flow is small. Developers must also maintain the buildings and manage operations. This makes the payback period very long.

If you build to sell, you get your money back quickly. But with rental housing, you have to maintain the whole system, so it's not attractive to businesses.

The government's plan to develop rental housing by 2030 is a good idea for people who cannot afford to buy homes.

The government needs to be involved in this segment with special policies.

Lack of financing is the biggest problem.

Rental housing is common in many developed countries, but it's underdeveloped in Vietnam.

In the past, Vietnam had a rental housing model with collective housing blocks and old apartments.

After 2003, this model disappeared, and condotels and private rooms took its place.

The main reason businesses avoid rental housing is that it's not financially feasible. Most companies rely on bank loans with high interest rates, while rental yields are low.

Households that develop rental rooms have an advantage because they already own the land and don't rely on loans. Even with modest profits, they accept the model because it generates stable cash flow.

The Vietnamese preference for homeownership is another obstacle to the rental market. People prioritize buying homes over renting, even when rentals offer better conditions.

Special incentives are needed.

There are three ways to develop rental housing:

First, the government should support businesses with incentives like cleared land, low-interest loans, and suitable rent-pricing mechanisms.

Second, the government could invest in rental housing through state-owned enterprises or national housing funds as a social mission.

Third, public-private partnerships or build-transfer models are feasible solutions. The government would handle land clearance and provide clean land to developers.

There is a need for specialized credit policies for rental housing, including low or zero interest rates.

The National Assembly should issue a dedicated resolution on rental housing with implementation decrees and preferential credit packages.

Corporate income tax from rental housing should be reduced or exempted for a certain period.

Businesses will only participate when they see real incentives in credit, land, and tax policies.

The government must provide extraordinary incentives like zero percent interest loans and land-use fee exemptions.

Even with ideal conditions, businesses would still need around 10 years to recover investment capital.

Nguyen Le