According to the latest draft revised Housing Law submitted to the Government, the Ministry of Construction has officially removed the proposal to terminate the ownership of apartments when the project expires from the content of the draft revised Housing Law.
According to the old proposal, apartment ownership was established from the time the State recognized ownership and terminated when the apartment building expired or had not expired its term but was subject to forced demolition according to regulations.
When the apartment building expires or has not expired but is damaged, at risk of collapse, and does not ensure safety for the owner or users of the apartment building, the Provincial People's Committee must direct the inspection and evaluation of the quality of the apartment building construction according to the provisions of construction law to decide on the extension of use and ownership.
In case the apartment building has expired its term of use but is not eligible for extension as prescribed, it must be demolished according to the provisions of this Law. The owner's ownership of the apartment and other area in the apartment building terminates when the apartment building is demolished.
In the process of drafting the previous draft, the Ministry of Construction received many comments from a large number of experts, the business community and people.
The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) believes that if the regulation on limited apartment ownership is applied, people may switch to prioritizing buying land to build houses instead of buying apartments. This may cause supply-demand imbalance, negatively impact the real estate market, push land prices up and is not consistent with the orientation of developing apartment buildings in urban areas to ensure the principle of economical and efficient land use according to the Land Law.
From there, the Association proposed to continue to maintain the regulation on the ownership of apartment buildings indefinitely, associated with stable and long-term residential land use rights as stipulated by the 2023 Housing Law.
In the latest draft revised Housing Law, Article 97, section 1, Chapter VII, the draft revised Housing Law stipulates the term of ownership of apartment buildings as follows:
Article 97. Term of use of apartment building
1. The term of use of the apartment building is determined according to the design dossier and the actual term of use of the apartment building based on the inspection conclusion according to the provisions of construction law. The term of use of the apartment building according to the design dossier must be clearly stated in the appraisal document of the competent authority according to the provisions of construction law.
2. The term of use of apartment buildings is calculated from the time of acceptance of apartment buildings put into use according to the provisions of construction law.
3. When the apartment building expires according to the design documents specified in Clause 1 of this Article or has not expired according to the design documents but is damaged, at risk of collapse, not ensuring safety for the owner and users of the apartment building, the Provincial People's Committee must direct the implementation of inspection and evaluation of the quality of the apartment building construction according to the provisions of construction law.
4. The announcement of apartment buildings that have expired is carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the law on construction.
5. The Government specifies the responsibilities for implementing inspection and quality assessment of apartment buildings.
