VietNamNet Bridge - Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee – Mr. Nguyen The Thao – says that there are nearly 6,000 apartments in the city are unsold. However, investors have not sold them to the city to convert them into houses for low-income people, houses for resettlement or houses for public employees.

 

 

On March 22, hundreds of businesses joined Hanoi’s officials in a conference to seek solutions for the real estate market. The Hanoi People's Committee’s report shows that the city currently has 5,789 apartments, more than 3,400 villas and 17.500m2 of housing floor that are unsalable.
 
Despite that huge inventory, real estate investors have not been interested in the city’s policy on turning service houses into social houses (houses for low-income people, houses for resettlement or houses for public employees).

"We have sent a notice to each firm but until now none of them has registered with the city for transformation," Thao said.

After reviewing the city’s housing development projects, Hanoi authorities have approved for converting three service housing projects into social housing projects. Six investors have registered to build social houses in seven locations in the city.

Hanoi has also checked bad debts of real estate enterprises and asked commercial banks in the area to ensure credit quality, NPLs, and accurate classify debts. The construction projects in progress will be loaned. The pay of land use fees for the social housing development projects with financial difficulties will be extended up to 24 months.

To solve the above inventory, Hanoi also applies the soft lending policy to low-income people, civil servants, staff of the armed forces to lease or purchase social houses of less than 70m2, with the price of under VND15 million per one square meter.

In particular, the city will temporarily not consider the commercial housing projects from now to December 31, 2014.

S. Tung