Half the proposed 20 projects, with 8,300 units, are planned in districts 7, 12 and Binh Tan and Thu Duc City.

Some 9,500 apartments will be built in suburban districts like Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon and Nha Be.

The remaining 200 apartments will be built in central districts, and the total cost of the 20 projects will be over VND37.6 trillion ($1.66 billion).

In 2016-20, nearly 15,000 apartments were built for workers in the city.

The city recently announced plans to build one million apartments to replace aging and low-quality housing for low-income people.

A survey by the city labor union found that 1.3 million workers needed housing.

The average worker’s housing is 14 square meters, costs VND1.6 million to rent and is shared by four people. This means workers spend 10-16 percent of their income on housing.

In 2020, some 70 percent of new apartment supply in HCMC was in the high-end segment, with the affordable segment accounting for just 1 percent, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association.