Many Resettlement Buildings in Hanoi Deteriorating Due to Lack of Maintenance Funds
In Hanoi, many resettlement buildings have fallen into disrepair after being in use for some time, but there are no funds available for repairs and maintenance.
The Dong Tau resettlement area in the Hoang Mai district of Hanoi was put into use in 2006 with 10 buildings. Today, all of the buildings are in a state of serious disrepair. Nguyen Xuan Kien, the representative of building N7 in the Dong Tau resettlement area, said that building N7 is now severely deteriorated.
In particular, the foundation of the first floor of the building has subsided, and despite repeated attempts to fix it, the problem has not been resolved. Additionally, the building’s elevator frequently breaks down, but there are no funds to repair it.
Several resettlement buildings in the Dong Tau resettlement area, Hoang Mai
district, are in a state of severe disrepair.
Mr. Kien also said that the city had issued Decision No. 18/2018/QD-UBND on August 23, 2018, to provide partial funding for the maintenance of resettlement buildings.
However, to date, the building has not received any funds. To “patch up” the various items, the building collects 200,000 VND per apartment each quarter to cover all operating expenses.
“In the past, when the elevator broke down, the repair costs were very high, amounting to several hundred million VND, but we had no money. After raising funds from the residents, we still came up short by more than 100 million VND, but the repair company gave us credit. We were only able to pay it off at the beginning of this year,” Mr. Kien said.
“We have also repeatedly reported these issues to the Hanoi City People’s
Committee and requested that the city find a solution to resolve them.
However, the authority to amend the Circular rests with the Ministry of
Finance. That is why no resettlement buildings have received this support to
date”.A company representative said.
According to our research, in addition to the 10 resettlement buildings in the Dong Tau urban area, there are also the Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh resettlement areas in the Thanh Xuan district, the resettlement houses in the City Exchange urban area in Co Nhue 1 ward, Bac Tu Liem district, the G5 resettlement house, and house A26 in Dai Kim ward, Hoang Mai district. Residents have to pay for repairs to the building’s damaged items themselves in order to maintain their living conditions.
Circular 214 Obstacle
In light of the deterioration of numerous resettlement buildings, the Hanoi City People’s Committee issued Decision No. 18/2018/QD-UBND on August 23, 2018, regulating the management and use of revenue from the leasing of business and service areas owned by the state in resettlement apartments within the city’s jurisdiction.
According to the Hanoi City People’s Committee, the city will provide partial funding for the maintenance of six items in deteriorating resettlement buildings: elevators, fire protection systems, water pumps, generators, lightning protection systems, and the exterior.
During meetings with delegates of the City People’s Council and the National Assembly, constituents reported that many resettlement buildings were deteriorating and requested that the city provide funding for maintenance. The Hanoi City People’s Committee responded that a policy was in place to provide partial funding for the maintenance of resettlement buildings in accordance with Decision No. 18/2018.
According to a representative of the Hanoi Housing Development and Management Company Limited (the entity responsible for managing resettlement houses), there are currently 167 resettlement houses in the city managed by the company, with over 13,000 apartments sold.
The company representative also stated that the majority of the resettlement buildings have deteriorated by now. The most common issues include peeling walls, rainwater seeping into the walls, and elevator malfunctions.
For resettlement buildings that have established a management board, the company will transfer the maintenance fund (usually 2%) to the management board for repairs and maintenance of the various items. For resettlement buildings that have not yet established a management board, the company evaluates the building’s items each year and submits a maintenance and repair plan.
However, there have been instances where certain building items have unexpectedly failed. Nevertheless, due to the lengthy and complex approval process, which can sometimes result in the budget not being approved until the end of December each year, the buildings are not repaired or maintained in a timely manner.
According to the company representative, Decision No. 18/2018/QD-UBND of the Hanoi City People’s Committee will provide partial funding for the maintenance of six items in resettlement buildings with non-residential space (used for business purposes).
However, to date, no building has received maintenance funds for these six items
