According to PV on August 31, at 3 resettlement buildings in Den Lu III, repair work is underway. Most of the outer walls of the buildings have been replaced with new paint to replace the old peeling paint.
Inside the buildings, workers repair damaged railings and windows, replace cracked glass doors and repaint peeling walls. Garbage and construction waste are dumped at the foot and the entrances to the buildings are also being cleaned up.
However, many other items have not been renovated or repaired, such as the entrance to the tunnel to keep vehicles still in disarray, the road to the lobbies of the buildings broken, and the foundations of the walls rotten. The front of the project adjacent to Tan Mai Street is still surrounded by corrugated iron, with construction materials.
Witnessing the buildings from the time they were built until many years of abandonment, Ms. Le Thi Nhung (Hoang Mai ward) could not help but feel sad: "After leaving them for 7 years, when they were first built, they were very beautiful but I never saw anyone living there. Around here, many people still have to rent cramped houses, which is a waste".
A security guard at the building said: "This area is currently quite expensive with houses and a very convenient location for transportation. I also hope the repair will be completed soon, so that people can live in it for fun, but for many years these 3 buildings have been abandoned".
According to research, Den Lu III Residential Area includes 3 resettlement apartment buildings, each with 17 floors, built and completed in 2017. The goal is to provide housing funds for households that have to relocate from planned areas or households that have reclaimed land and cleared land, including the Tam Trinh road expansion project.
The reason is that the apartment buildings have been completed but left unused for many years due to problems with site clearance at the projects, so households subject to relocation and resettlement in Den Lu III area have not yet moved in.
At the end of 2024, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh requested the Hoang Mai District People's Committee to implement a project to renovate and repair the housing area to ensure spaciousness, cleanliness, and best service to people's lives after handover.
However, it was not until the end of May 2025 that the repair and renovation of these 3 new buildings was carried out with a budget of about 40 billion VND by the Construction Investment Project Management Board (DTXD) of the old Hoang Mai District. It is expected that the renovation and repair of the buildings will be completed in September 2025.
According to Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation, management agencies can orient and accelerate plans to awaken and convert resettlement housing areas that have been abandoned for many years.
"After converting these resettlement houses, it is necessary to ensure social security and transport infrastructure so that people can easily access the central area, avoiding the situation of abandonment due to not meeting demand," said Dr. Tran Xuan Luong.
Hanoi currently has about 170 unused resettlement housing projects, with a total of more than 4,000 apartments. If this housing fund is converted to social housing for sale or rent, it will help meet the housing needs of many people.
