Dilapidated buildings set of the sledgehammer

Residents of old buildings are being forced to step into the future

The government has passed a resolution on measures to redevelop old residential quarters, a plan which is attractive to developers because of the project’s prime locations.
Residential complexes in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang and Haiphong built before the 1990s are deteriorating, but redevelopment is challenging because of an unclear legal framework.
Resolution 34/2007/NQ-CP dated July 3, 2007 provides financial, land, design and resettlement solutions and tax incentives for developers who want to complete conversion before 2015.
Most of the old quarters are located in areas which were planned for only four or five-storey properties. Developers want to increase the number of floors so they can build more apartments for resettlement and use the remaining units for sales to recover their investment.
The resolution permits provincial-level People’s Committees to adjust planning specifications of redevelopment projects such as construction ratio, population and height of buildings to improve projects’ yield returns.
Developers will have to provide temporary residence and earmark space in new buildings for resettling existing residents.
Developers will compensate and provide temporary homes for residents inhabiting current buildings and help resettle tenants by paying cash or by giving funds for apartments in redeveloped buildings.
Residents living in the ground floor of old buildings will have to move to higher floors after the properties are redeveloped.
Despite the positive resolution, there remains a lot of hurdles for developers to overcome.
A few days after the resolution was issued, Song Hong Joint Stock Company (Incomex) started a pilot project to redevelop two old buildings in Hanoi’s Kim Lien residential quarters. Incomex will build four blocks with 500 units on the site for resettlement and sales.
Although 80 families on higher floors of the two buildings have agreed to move out for redevelopment, all those living on the ground floor refuse to leave.
The refusal stems from ground floor residents who will lose valuable income through shops and motorbike parking if they have to move to a higher level.