Detached houses turned into apartment buildings in Hanoi illegally
Many detached houses in Hanoi have been turned into small apartment buildings illegally through adding additional floors, however, local authorities have not yet taken strict measures to deal with the problem.
It is easy to find 30-60 square metre apartments on the internet. For example, a 30 square-metre apartment costs only VND500 million (USD22,270).
This kind of model often targets young couples who have low or medium income.
However, without the careful consideration of legal procedures, customers can easily buy apartments which are built illegally; as a result they fail to have the land ownership certificate or red book.
Nguyen Van Tuan, a resident of a building on Phuong Liet Street, Thanh Xuan District, said that all apartments of the building don’t have a red book and the transactions were only carried out based on a contract signed by the seller and buyer.
“The building is allowed to have six floors, but the investor built two extra floors, which is the obvious violation of the construction law. So, it is impossible for each apartment to have its own red book. We did not study the related procedures before buying the apartment, but just listened to and believed in what the investor had promised,” Tuan sighed.
A house at 22 on Vuong Thua Vu Street, Thanh Xuan District is allowed to have six floors only, but the owner built two additional floors to turn it into a small apartment building. The same problem is also reported at many other houses in Cau Giay, Ba Dinh and Nam Tu Liem districts.
The owner of a house revealed that he knew it is illegal to add floors and his customers can’t be provided with red books for their apartments, but he decided he just wanted to earn more profits.
Many people recognise that they can’t have a red book for the illegally-built apartments, but still decide to buy them as the investor and property consulting firms said that to date none of these kinds of apartments have been fined by authorities or the investor would have ways to deal with officials.
Lax management
Le Vinh Tinh who lives on Vuong Thua Vu Street said that after a petition by local households, authorities in Thanh Xuan District requested the owner of a house on the street to remove the illegally-built floors by late 2016. However, until now, some parts of these floors, including walls and concrete pillars, have remained.
Tran Xuan Duy, Vice chairman of Khuong Trung ward, admitted the violation of this house, noting that local authorities would consider destroying the illegally-built floors.
An official from Thanh Xuan District People’s Committee said that the district had not licensed any small apartment building, but owners of houses had built extra floors for this purpose. He acknowledged the lax management of local authorities.
It is easy to find 30-60 square metre apartments on the internet. For example, a 30 square-metre apartment costs only VND500 million (USD22,270).
This kind of model often targets young couples who have low or medium income.
The illegally-built small apartment building at 22 Vuong Thua Vu Street, Hanoi
However, without the careful consideration of legal procedures, customers can easily buy apartments which are built illegally; as a result they fail to have the land ownership certificate or red book.
Nguyen Van Tuan, a resident of a building on Phuong Liet Street, Thanh Xuan District, said that all apartments of the building don’t have a red book and the transactions were only carried out based on a contract signed by the seller and buyer.
“The building is allowed to have six floors, but the investor built two extra floors, which is the obvious violation of the construction law. So, it is impossible for each apartment to have its own red book. We did not study the related procedures before buying the apartment, but just listened to and believed in what the investor had promised,” Tuan sighed.
A house at 22 on Vuong Thua Vu Street, Thanh Xuan District is allowed to have six floors only, but the owner built two additional floors to turn it into a small apartment building. The same problem is also reported at many other houses in Cau Giay, Ba Dinh and Nam Tu Liem districts.
The owner of a house revealed that he knew it is illegal to add floors and his customers can’t be provided with red books for their apartments, but he decided he just wanted to earn more profits.
Many people recognise that they can’t have a red book for the illegally-built apartments, but still decide to buy them as the investor and property consulting firms said that to date none of these kinds of apartments have been fined by authorities or the investor would have ways to deal with officials.
Lax management
Le Vinh Tinh who lives on Vuong Thua Vu Street said that after a petition by local households, authorities in Thanh Xuan District requested the owner of a house on the street to remove the illegally-built floors by late 2016. However, until now, some parts of these floors, including walls and concrete pillars, have remained.
Tran Xuan Duy, Vice chairman of Khuong Trung ward, admitted the violation of this house, noting that local authorities would consider destroying the illegally-built floors.
An official from Thanh Xuan District People’s Committee said that the district had not licensed any small apartment building, but owners of houses had built extra floors for this purpose. He acknowledged the lax management of local authorities.
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