The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has issued Decision 32/2025/QD-UBND, a landmark regulation setting new standards for determining population density in apartment buildings. Effective January 9, 2026, the decree mandates that commercial apartments must provide an average floor area of 25 to 32 square meters per person. This move is a strategic effort to curb urban overcrowding, enhance living quality, and align the city with the National Housing Development Strategy target of 32 m² per capita by 2030.
A New Formula for Urban Density
For decades, developers and planners struggled with inconsistent methods for calculating how many residents a building could hold. Decision 32 provides a definitive population conversion table based on the number of rooms and usable floor area.
For Social Housing and Resettlement projects, the standards are slightly adjusted to reflect high-density needs, with a 1-bedroom unit of 32–45 m² being counted as 1.5 people.
Strict Enforcement Across Project Lifecycles
The "25-32 m² rule" is not just a suggestion; it will be a mandatory checkpoint at every stage of a real estate project's development.
- Planning & Investment: During the initial 1/500 detailed planning and investment policy approval, the maximum population of a building must strictly adhere to these area-per-person ratios.
- Permitting & Construction: In the feasibility study and construction permit issuance phases, authorities will use these metrics to ensure the building’s infrastructure (elevators, parking, water, and fire safety) is sufficient for the intended population.
- Design Consistency: In cases where the architectural layout (number of rooms) contradicts the total floor area, the city will prioritize the usable floor area as the primary factor for determining the population.
The "Overcrowding" Solution
HCMC’s move aims to solve several chronic urban issues that have plagued the city as it grew toward an actual population of nearly 13 million.
- Infrastructure Relief: By capping population density, the city reduces the strain on "overstretched" social infrastructure, such as nearby schools, hospitals, and parks.
- Preventing "Mini-Slums": Strict minimums prevent the proliferation of extremely small, subdivided units that can lead to rapid building degradation and safety hazards.
- Fire Safety: Limiting the number of residents per floor ensures that evacuation routes and fire suppression systems remain effective during emergencies.
Strategic Impact on the Real Estate Market
The 2026 regulation is expected to significantly influence how developers design and price future projects in Vietnam's economic hub.
- Shift to Quality: Developers may move away from "shoebox" units toward larger, more functional layouts to meet the per-person requirements while maintaining profitability.
- Pricing Pressures: With fewer people allowed per square meter of land, the cost of development per capita may rise, potentially impacting apartment prices in the mid-to-high-end segments.
- National Alignment: This decision aligns HCMC with the Prime Minister's Decision 2161, which envisions the national average housing floor area reaching 32 m² per person by 2030.
As of December 30, 2025, the Department of Construction and the Department of Planning and Architecture have begun training sessions for developers to ensure all new submissions for 2026 comply with the revised standards.