Specific policies needed for upgrading old apartments in Hanoi

There are presently almost 1,580 ancient apartments in Hanoi.

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The draft Capital Law (amended) is still being reviewed, and one of the notable factors is Hanoi's particular measures to encourage investment in old buildings.

More powers for the Hanoi People's Council

In reality, there are presently almost 1,580 ancient apartments in Hanoi. Although the old apartment renovation efforts in Hanoi were initiated in 1999, to date only 32 apartments have been created and upgraded (about more than 1% of the total number of old buildings in Hanoi).

Hanoi City intends to complete the rehabilitation and reconstruction of ancient apartments by 2045. And one of the breakthroughs identified in the Project on Adjusting Hanoi's Master Planning to 2045, with a view to 2065, is rehabilitating ancient apartments.

According to Dr. Architect. Dao Ngoc Nghiem, Vice President of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, the draft Capital Law (amended) states that "renovating and rebuilding old apartments, old houses, and degraded multi-family houses must comply with approved planning, ensuring harmony between the interests of the State, people, and investors."

Notably, the amended draft Capital Law has increased authority to the Hanoi People's Council on a number of topics. The Hanoi People's Council, in particular, has the authority to implement "policies for renovating and building new historic buildings, degraded multi-family houses, and old apartments in accordance with the provisions of the 2014 Housing Law."

Hanoi also has a scheme that defines the rehabilitation and reconstruction of ancient apartment complexes, with the objective of examining all old apartments by 2024. Meanwhile, the Capital Law states that the Capital Law shall still be enforced in circumstances where it is consistent with other laws. Otherwise, the People's Council will deliberate and make a decision.

As a result, in Mr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem's opinion, there is no need to include in the amended Capital Law provisions on the Hanoi People's Council's right to decide on policies to renovate old apartments, but it is necessary to give the Hanoi People's Council more authorities in regulating the form of renovating and rebuilding old apartments to create specific policies for Hanoi in the current context, and this is the basis for promoting creativity for Hanoi's authorities.

"It is necessary to specifically regulate activities of renovating and rebuilding apartment buildings, old houses, and degraded multi-family houses in accordance with established planning, land use plans, urban planning as approved, thereby ensuring consistency and synchronization between the Capital Law and the Housing Law" , said Dao Ngoc Nghiem, the housing minister.

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Urgent need for specific policies on planning

Above all, the law must highlight the balance of interests among the State, the people, and the enterprises, with remedies for each issue.

Mr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem said, after two decades, Hanoi has only renovated about 1% of old apartments, highlighting the need for a specific policy for the Capital to create harmony of interests between the State, residents, and investors, in which the planning perspective needs to focus on renovation and reconstruction of old apartments for the entire area, as well as clearly defining the scope of research and planning.

Furthermore, Mr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem suggests that the planning for renovating the old apartment complex must comply with Hanoi's planning (master planning, zoning planning, sector planning, with such main criteria as: Population, space, and land utilization coefficient), and that the structure of the renovated apartment complex does not have to be a common housing unit model, but can be a multi-functional urban area. Specific sites must be considered while making planning changes.

“Hanoi can consider socializing detailed planning and projects through investor selection or bidding while piloting the "social enterprise" model, in which the State, real estate businesses and construction enterprises are shareholders”, advised Mr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem.

Mr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem stated that based on the approved detailed plans, it would be necessary to develop an implementation plan with priority construction of dangerously degraded houses, while promulgating regulations on assignment, management, and responsibilities (it is recommended that a specialized agency for apartment renovation be established).