The general renovation of old apartments has been carried out by Hanoi City since 2005. However, over the past 20 years, Hanoi has only completed the renovation of about 1.14% of the total of more than 1,500 old apartment buildings and old collective housing areas that need to be repaired, renovated and rebuilt.
The area of old apartments is mostly from 30-50m2/unit, but most people have extended and repaired it for use. Due to the lack of regular maintenance, the urban infrastructure system is damaged, causing many old apartment buildings to continue to deteriorate seriously, some are severely damaged, endangering the technical safety of the structure.
Out of 401 old apartment buildings inspected, 80 old apartment buildings are in danger at level D… (Illustrative image)
According to statistics, there are a total of 401 old apartment buildings inspected, of which 80 old apartment buildings are in danger at level D, a very dangerous level.
The project to renovate old apartments has been approved, along with a number of implementation plans that have attracted the interest of more than 100 businesses. According to the analysis of experts, with the strong direction of the City People’s Committee and the participation of businesses, the renovation of old apartments in Hanoi will be more optimistic. Decentralization, delegation and development of criteria for selecting investors for each project are very important.
Economic expert, Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong pointed out a number of bottlenecks affecting the progress of renovating old apartments in Hanoi: “The first is the issue of balancing the interests between investors and residents. Apartment owners want to be resettled on the spot.
The second problem is that the planning in terms of height is also an obstacle. The general planning of large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, controlling the height is also one of the issues raised. Another difficulty at present is the issue of capital. Businesses investing in rebuilding old apartments do not have enough money to build completely and then hand over to the people, while the people are reluctant to pay with the businesses”.
