Running a home in Saigon: helpers, power, floods

Short answer: hire your housekeeper on a written contract and tell the ward, keep the air-con in check because EVN charges more per kWh the more you use, and pick an apartment above the waterline.

The short version

Domestic workers in Vietnam must have a written contract, and employers must notify the ward People's Committee and pay social and health insurance amounts. Fines for not notifying are VND 1–3 million from 10 September 2026 [1].
The regional minimum wage in Ho Chi Minh City (Region 1) is VND 5.31 million a month or VND 25,500 an hour from 1 January 2026 [2]. It's a floor, not a fair rate.
EVN household power is priced in rising tiers. The average retail price dropped 2% to about VND 2,160 per kWh from 1 November 2026 [3].
Thao Dien and other low-lying areas flood when heavy rain meets a high tide, mostly in the wet season from about May to November [4][5].
Condo buildings have their own rules on renovations, deliveries, pets and visitors. Read them before you sign the lease.

Hiring a housekeeper or nanny

Many Australian families in Saigon employ a housekeeper ("giúp việc") or a nanny for the first time. It feels informal, but Vietnamese law treats it as employment.

What the law requires

A government decree on labour and social insurance penalties takes effect on 10 September 2026, and Tuoi Tre summarised the household obligations [1]:

Obligation	What it means	Penalty if you don't
Written labour contract	Pay, pay period, daily hours and any accommodation in writing; either side can end it with 15 days' notice	Official warning [1]
Notify the ward	Tell the local People's Committee when you hire and when the job ends	VND 1–3 million [1]
Social and health insurance	Pay the insurance amounts so the worker can enrol	VND 10–15 million [1]
Don't hold ID documents	Never keep your helper's citizen ID card	VND 10–15 million [1]
Travel home	Pay return travel to their home town when the job ends, unless they quit early	Official warning [1]
Decent living conditions	Hygienic accommodation if they live in	[1]

Mistreatment, harassment or forced labour that isn't prosecuted as a crime attracts fines of VND 50–75 million [1].

What to pay

The legal floor in the city is VND 5.31 million a month for full-time work, or VND 25,500 an hour [2]. Expats usually pay well above that, and rates depend on hours, live-in or live-out, English, cooking and childcare. We haven't found an official survey of expat household pay, so ask other families in your building or area and agree the number in writing.

On top of wages, Vietnamese custom is a Tết bonus, often a thirteenth month's pay, before Lunar New Year. Tết is also when helpers go home to their families, sometimes for a couple of weeks, so plan childcare early.

How to hire, step by step

Decide the role. Cleaning a few mornings a week is very different from a live-in nanny. Write a short job description.
Find candidates through recommendations from other families, your building or a reputable agency. Ask for references you can actually ring.
Do a paid trial week before committing.
Sign a bilingual contract covering pay, hours, days off, Tết, notice and duties. Use a template from a lawyer or your employer's HR team.
Notify the ward People's Committee [1]. Your landlord or a Vietnamese-speaking friend can help.
Sort insurance payments and keep receipts [1].
Pay on time, in the agreed way, and keep a record.

The Australian angle

At home, few Australians employ someone in their house, and the rules feel unfamiliar. Here the gap between your income and the local wage makes it easy to underpay without meaning to. Treat your helper the way you'd want a cleaner treated in Sydney: clear hours, overtime paid, days off respected. And keep copies of the contract; if you ever claim childcare costs or relocation allowances through an Australian employer, you'll need them.

Electricity: the tiers that catch out air-con users

Electricity is supplied by EVN's southern arm, and in most apartments the bill is in your landlord's name or included in a building charge. Either way, how much you use decides the price per unit.

How the tiers work

Household power is billed in steps. You pay the cheapest rate for the first kWh each month and a higher rate for each band above it. EVN's current household scale has six bands: 0–50, 51–100, 101–200, 201–300, 301–400 and over 400 kWh [6]. An air-conditioned apartment with two or three units running at night lands in the top band most months.

The average retail price rose 4.8% to VND 2,204 per kWh in May 2025 [7], then dropped 2% to about VND 2,160 per kWh, excluding VAT, from 1 November 2026, the first cut in more than three years [3].

A five-band household scale was set in 2025 but hasn't been applied yet. In October 2026 the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed bringing it in early [8]. Under that proposal the top band would start above 700 kWh and cost 180% of the average price [8][9]. Treat it as proposed until EVN confirms a start date.

Watch the landlord's rate

In serviced apartments and some houses, landlords charge a flat rate per kWh instead of passing on EVN's bill. Ask before you sign:

Is the power bill in EVN's name and paid at cost, or charged at a flat rate?
Can I see last summer's bills?
Is the meter separate for my unit?

Saving tips: run the air-con at 26°C, use ceiling fans, service the units before the hot season, and close curtains on the western side in the afternoon.

Water, gas and internet

Water. Supplied by the city's water utility through local companies. Bills are usually small and often paid through the landlord or building. Most expats drink bottled or filtered water rather than straight from the tap.
Gas. Most apartments use electric or induction cooktops. Houses often use bottled LPG, delivered by local suppliers. Have a technician check the hose and regulator.
Internet. Fibre is widely available from the big providers, including VNPT, Viettel and FPT. Installation is usually within a few days of signing, and you'll need your passport. In condos the building may have an approved provider list, so ask management first.
Paying bills. Most bills can be paid by QR code through banking apps once you have a Vietnamese account. See SIMs, bank apps and biometrics.

Flooding and the rainy season

Saigon's wet season usually runs from about May to November, with short, violent afternoon storms. Flooding comes from two things together: heavy rain and high tides on the Saigon River.

Thao Dien, popular with Australian families, is a classic example. It sits low, its drains are old and some roads are below the high-tide level, so stormwater can't drain when the tide is up. In June 2025 sections of Quoc Huong, Nguyen Van Huong and Thao Dien streets went under, with water up to 30 cm deep [4]. Drainage upgrades and a Saigon River embankment are planned, but officials describe current fixes as stopgaps [4]. In October and November 2025, Saigon River tides set all-time records, flooding major roads and even Bui Vien walking street [5].

Before you rent	During the season
Ask neighbours if the street floods	Check tide forecasts in the local news
Avoid ground-floor flats and basement parking in low areas	Move motorbikes and cars to higher ground
Check where the power board and sockets sit	Turn off power if water comes inside
Look for water stains on walls and doors	Don't ride through floodwater; you can't see holes

Check that your contents insurance covers flood. Many policies don't, or exclude ground-floor units.

Condo life: building management rules

Most expats in Saigon live in apartment towers run by a building management board. Expect rules on:

Renovations and tradies: registered in advance, limited hours, deposits for damage.
Moving in and out: booked lift times and sometimes a fee.
Visitors and residence registration: foreign residents must be registered for temporary residence, and building management often collects passport details to pass on to the ward police.
Pets: some buildings ban them or limit size.
Management fees: usually charged per square metre each month. Confirm in the lease whether you or the landlord pays.

Get the house rules in English if possible and keep a copy with your lease. Our renting guide covers deposits and contracts.

Need a helper recommendation or want to know if a street floods? Join Cooee Vietnam, our Facebook group for Australians in Vietnam.

Running a home in Saigon: helpers, power bills, internet and the rainy season