Despite high demand, and swathes of poor quality and over-priced housing in the city, in the west of Hanoi is a supposed luxury residential area with hundreds of houses, which has become a ghost town as no one moved in for over three years.

The Lideco urban area invested by Tu Liem Urban Development JSC in Hanoi’s Hoai Duc District is 10km from the city's centre and features French architecture. The USD35.5m area covers 38 hectares with 600 houses. Work started in 2008 and the site was completed in 2013.

It is nearly completed with roads, greenery, sport and entertainment areas and commercial centre. However, the investors seem to have struggled to sell their houses. Those who have bought the houses haven’t wanted to move in due to financial difficulties.

Weeds grow inside the abandoned houses, encroached the roads and mould has already appeared on many walls. In order to prevent the area from deteriorating further, managers have to hire a people to clean up the streets as well as guards outside of the completed buildings.

Dozens of luxury houses in Tu Liem and Ha Dong districts are also abandoned. The luxury Do Nghia Residential Area in Ha Dong District is 22.86 hectares and completed four years ago, however, only a few people have moved in. Most of the customers bought the houses and land as speculation.

There are many abandoned residential areas in Hanoi since it started merging with neighbouring provinces. Many experts have blamed poor urban planning and the aftermath of the real estate bubble in the previous economic downturn.

Dtinews