Despite high demand for housing, many people have refused to move into resettlement buildings in Hanoi and left thousands of apartments lying empty due to low quality.

A resettlement building in Nam Trung Yen Urban Area in Cau Giay District which has hundreds of apartments left abandoned

At least 150 apartments in Sai Dong Ward, Long Bien Distirct of Hanoi Housing Development and Investment Corporation 3 have remained abandoned for 11 years because the quality of the construction is too low compared to nearby buildings.

Those buildings were supposed to provide housing for those people that had to move for compulsory purchase orders. Vu Ngoc Dam, head of the Housing and Urban Development Bureau of the Hanoi Department of Construction, said they had introduced many potential buyers to the project but no one wanted to live there.

The same situation is also seen in many other resettlement projects in Nam Trung Yen Urban Area in Cau Giay District, Den Lu Urban Area in Hoang Mai District, or in Ba Dinh District. It is suspected that the apartments in Nam Trung Yen Urban Area might have been rented out before officially being opened for sale. There are some old furniture, broken sanitary equipment and unstable water and electricity lines.

According to the Department of Construction, the project was funded by the government and managed by the district. After being completed, the buildings were transferred to state-owned firms to manage. They bizarrely cannot pinpoint responsibility of the construction unit and operation management.

After being equitised and state funds were recovered, Hanoi Housing Development and Investment Corporation 3 proposed to demolish the buildings for new projects.

The deputies from many wards and districts also voiced opinions over the low-quality resettlement buildings and suggested changing the regulations. Resettlement areas are required but in reality, ground clearance is carried out very slowly.

A representative for Cau Giay District People's Committee said corruption was the negative side of the public investment projects. Each year, the state spends hundreds of billions of VND on resettlement areas but only 30% of the residents agree to be relocated to areas they aren’t historically tied to. The rest sold their apartments to move elsewhere.

Statistics from the Department of Construction showed that the city needs 1,500 to 2,000 apartments for resettlement with a total investment of VND2trn each year.  

dtinews