Issuance of land use certificates to be solved

The Linh Dam Complex in Hanoi fails to follow the original blueprint and approved planning by the authorities. (Photo: VNA)

The Ministry of Construction (MoC) and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) have set up inspection teams to review the issue and put forward solutions.

In Hanoi, there are many apartment building projects that violate their original plans and design, so house buyers could not be granted certificates of land use rights and home-ownership, reported the Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper.

Le Phong Hoan, the owner of an apartment in Ha Dong district, is one example.

When refused a certificate of land use rights and ownership for the apartment, Hoan knew his apartment building was on the list of projects which violated their approved planning.

“I bought the apartment in 2013, and was provided all related papers by the investor,” Hoan told the paper.

“But when I submitted an application for land use rights and ownership, I was told that the authority had no documents relating to the project. Therefore, I could not be granted the certificate,” said Hoan.

Hoan’s building is part of the Bemes apartments and shopping centre, which was due to comprise two buildings. But the investor built Hoan’s building – the third – without permission. This means many buyers were sold unlicensed apartments.

Similarly, the Linh Dam apartment buildings in Hoang Mai district were originally designed to have 12 blocks of 27 floors each, but the investor built 36 or 40 floors without permission.

Additionally, many investors have mortgaged the buildings to get loans for other projects, meaning buyers are unable to complete land use procedures or get ownership certificates.

The lack of certificates means apartment buyers cannot mortgage their property or use it as collateral for bank loans or complete inheritance procedures.

Many people had to sell their apartments below their real value because they did not have the proper certificates.

To implement the instructions from the Hanoi People’s Committee, the city’s Natural Resources and Environment Department has set up two inspection teams to review apartment building projects which lack certificates of land use rights and house ownership.

According to the department, as of November 2019, there were 135 projects which had violated regulations, including changing approved designs or transferring the buildings to other investors without permission.

The projects comprise a total of 62,200 apartments, of which 33,204 have received certificates, while the other 29,071 lacked necessary documents.

Tran Anh Dung, director of Hanoi Land Registration Office, said that people have lived in the buildings for years.

They asked many times to be granted the certificates but failed, said Dung.

In fact, the municipal Party Committee has asked relevant agencies to deal with the issue.

However, the current legal system on investment, construction and land still has many inconsistencies, the director said.

The MoC and MoNRE have suggested measures to deal with the issue after a working session with the municipal authority.

The certificates will be granted to those who have paid all money to the investors, even though the investors have not yet fulfilled their financial obligations to the State.

For projects with violations of approved designs and planning, the certificates will be considered for those who bought apartments in approved areas.