The Hanoi Department of Construction has said a plan to renovate and rebuild many old apartment buildings has been drawn up and will soon be submitted to the city government for consideration. 

The renovation plan will be executed in phases, the department said. Last month, the capital city announced a list of projects calling for investments in 2016, and these projects include 10 old condo buildings that the city is finding investors to rebuild at a combined cost of VND316.8 trillion (US$14.2 billion).

The old apartment projects are located across Hanoi.

They are listed among 42 shabby apartment buildings in Hanoi which are at risk of collapse because most of them were constructed before the 1980s.

The 10 old building will be rebuilt with a maximum of 24 stories each in line with regulations on planning and architecture of high-rise buildings in inner-city areas that took effect on mid-April this year.

Particularly, Quynh Mai apartment building will be rebuilt with 24 stories and a maximum height of 86 meters, Giang Vo apartment building with 21 stories and a height of 76 meters, Ngoc Khanh apartment building with 21 stories.

Other apartment buildings like Thanh Cong, Khuong Thuong, Vinh Ho, Kim Lien, Phuong Mai and Thanh Nhan will have 24 stories.

Statistics of the department showed Hanoi now has around 1,516 old apartment buildings of two to five floors, with most of them built in the 1960s-1990s.

Most of the apartments have their areas widened twice and their population is around 1.5 times higher than their initial designs.

In addition to deterioration, most of the old apartment buildings are not equipped with fire prevention and fighting systems.

Hanoi has completed reconstruction of nine apartment buildings, started work on residential projects B6, D2 Giang Vo, C1 Thanh Cong and Block N3 as part of a pilot scheme to renovate Nguyen Cong Tru apartment building, and prepared to relocate two apartment buildings 148-150 Son Tay and C8 Giang Vo.