Leaders of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committee of Lac Son district and local authorities hand over a new great house to a poor family in Renh village of Mien Doi commune.

Recently, the campaign to eliminate substandard housing for the poor has received significant attention from provincial authorities. The programme has been carried out through a variety of practical and effective methods. In addition to the State's support, the administration at all levels, sectors, units, and individuals have worked together to mobilise resources for repairing and building houses for those in need, particularly ethnic minority people. This initiative provides a strong motivation for the poor to "settle down and make a living", helping them stabilise their lives and contribute to economic and social development.

With the entire political system's collective efforts and the people's consensus, the province is determined to completely eradicate temporary and dilapidated houses by June 30, 2025.

Mai Chau is one of the exemplary localities successfully implementing the programme to provide sturdy houses for the poor. According to a survey conducted in early 2024, the district had 208 houses belonging to poor, near-poor, and disadvantaged households that required new construction, and 59 houses in need of repairs. To date, the district has completed 161 new houses, with a total investment of over 7.7 billion VND (nearly 302,000 USD), offering financial support of 50-60 million VND per household. The completed houses have a minimum area of 30sq.m and meet the construction standards set by the Ministry of Construction.

As per the plan, the province aims to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for 3,194 poor households, those in difficult circumstances, and policy beneficiary families. Of these, 2,283 houses need to be built, and 911 need to be repaired. To achieve this goal, district-level localities have set up steering committees at both district and grassroots levels, intensified efforts to raise public awareness, mobilise the engagement of officials, Party members, people, and businesses, and encouraged resources to be optimised for building houses for the poor. Authorities have also called on local communities to contribute labour and money to help improve construction quality.

Since October 2024, when the peak 450-day campaign for completing the programme to build and repair houses for the poor in the province was launched, thanks to support from central authorities along with other provinces and cities, Hoa Binh has so far built 1,975 new houses and repaired 223 houses. All the houses meet standards, with the largest ranging from 100 to 110sq.m, valued at 300–500 million VND, and the smallest homes measuring 35–36sq.m, valued at 55–60 million VND.

Additionally, in February 2025, the provincial VFF Committee, in collaboration with other sectors and local authorities, conducted a province-wide review to address issues concerning land, procedures, counterpart funding, and flood-hit housing, with the aim of devising solutions to accelerate the programme.

Bui Van Luyen, Chairman of the provincial VFF Committee and deputy head of the provincial Steering Committee for the substandard housing elimination programme, said that in order to achieve the programme's goal, the provincial VFF Committee will guide all-level VFF committees to advise Party committees and administrations in speeding up housing construction and repairs.

According to the plan, by June 30 this year, the province still needs to build and repair 996 more houses. Hoa Binh city, Luong Son district, and Lac Thuy district have to complete the programme by April 30. Each completed house means one more poor household will be free from the accommodation burden, allowing them to focus on developing livelihoods to escape from poverty. This will, in turn, enhance the credibility of local Party organisations, local authorities, and VFF committees, while strengthening the people's trust in the Party and State's policies.