Shortly after the government’s credit aid package for buying apartments under social housing projects took effect on Saturday, five banks assigned to disburse money for the program publicized the requirements and target borrowers for the loans.

The aid package, worth VND30 trillion (US$1.44 billion), allows members of the public to borrow loans at only 6 percent a year to purchase apartments from social housing projects.

Thirty percent of the package will be earmarked to help businesses convert the function of their commercial projects into social housing.

The State Bank of Vietnam has assigned five banks to offer the preferential loans, namely Agribank, BIDV, Vietinbank, Vietcombank, and the Mekong Housing Bank.

Vietinbank said it has published all of the conditions for the credit on its website.

Specifically, eligible borrowers for the preferential loans include civil servants, military officers, and low-income earners who want to borrow loans to buy or rent apartments under social-housing projects.

The apartments should have an area of under 70 square meters, and costs no more than VND15 million a square meter.

These customers can borrow the cheap loans for a term of at least ten years, the bank said.

Vietinbank also offers similar loans for businesses who are investors in social housing projects, or those wishing to convert their commercial projects into social housing. Loans for this category will have a maximum term of five years.

BIDV, meanwhile, also announced details regarding its credit program.

All of the procedures will be implemented publicly at all transaction offices and branches of BIDV, the bank said.

Individual customers will be given the loan within at most four days, while businesses will receive money within 20 days of their application being received, the bank promised.

The aid is expected to assist house-buyers, and warm up the frozen property market.

“If the loans are appropriately disbursed to the right borrowers, this will create a stimulus for the social housing sector and hopefully for the real-estate market as well,” said Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam.

New social housing projects have recently broken ground, while several investors have also considered converting their commercial projects.