The rampant use of designations for apartment buildings such as “high-end,” “luxurious” and “premier” in the property market is an emerging trick to lure customers, according to the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA).

More and more high-rise residential blocks are going up in HCMC. The HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA) has warned of the rampant use of designations for apartment buildings such as “high-end,” “luxurious” and “premier” in the property market to cheat customers

In a note sent to relevant agencies on October 22, HoREA Chairman Le Hoang Chau said it was essential to tighten control over the rapidly emerging trend of using the words “luxury,” “high-end,” “premier” and “royal” to describe apartments and houses. In fact, few of the real estate projects meet high-end standards in the market.

Many property projects, including villas, buildings and apartments, have been advertised as high-end homes by their owners, but they have yet to be officially assessed and recognized by the Construction Department or any other assessment unit. In falsifying information, these owners have violated the regulations of Clause 13 in Article 6 of House Law 2014.

In terms of State management, even though the Ministry of Construction has two circulars on the classification of apartments which have been in force over the past 10 years, neither project investors nor apartment management boards have proposed classifying their apartments to date.

As such, it is imperative to reconsider the practicability of legal documents as they have failed to meet the needs of the industry and require transparency, honesty and fair competition in the real estate market.

The note also quoted HoREA as saying that the classification would become transparent if the projects were completed, which would help buyers avoid buying the wrong kind of apartment. If an apartment is scheduled to be built in the future, buyers can easily end up with an apartment that does not match the advertisement.

Therefore, it is necessary to adjust and supplement Circular 31/2016, regulating that apartments can only be recognized as high-end after the completion of construction and examination by the competent agency to ensure transparency and guarantee buyers’ interests, according to HoREA.

Regarding apartments that will be built in the future, owners will only be allowed to advertise and market these projects to mobilize capital.

SGT