Hanoi has nearly 1,600 old apartment buildings
According to the Hanoi Department of Construction, the city has nearly 1,600 old apartment buildings (old collective houses), mainly built in the period 1960 - 1990.
Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association - said that Hanoi has built a project to renovate old apartment buildings since 2001, but the results so far have not met expectations. Recently, the City People's Committee requested 48 communes and wards to simultaneously inspect buildings, in order to promote renovation and improve the urban appearance.
In Kim Lien ward, in 2026, the locality will prioritize the inspection of Kim Lien, Trung Tu and Khuong Thuong collective housing areas. Based on the inspection results, the buildings will be classified to determine cases that need repair, reinforcement or demolition.
In Kim Lien, Trung Tu and Khuong Thuong collective housing areas, there are currently 85 buildings that have been inspected and classified for safety levels, including 38 Kim Lien houses, 29 Trung Tu houses and 18 Khuong Thuong houses. The works will continue to be evaluated and supplemented with technical infrastructure information and safety levels according to the 2023 Housing Law.
Recorded at Kim Lien apartment complex, after more than half a century of use, many items of the building have clearly revealed traces of time and seriously degraded. Many buildings have appeared with cracked walls, ceiling and corridor peeling off large patches, revealing even the iron core.
Not only in Kim Lien collective housing area, Trung Tu collective housing area also recorded a similar degraded situation.
According to Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem, the renovation of old apartment buildings must start with inspection to determine the order of priority. Projects are classified A - D according to safety level, in which level D needs to be handled immediately.
Locally adjust planning to serve as a basis for calling for investment
In Ho Chi Minh City at the end of 2025, the Department of Construction has compiled reports and proposals from localities, in the city there are 186 old apartment buildings (with 223 lots) that need to be inspected and re-inspected.
In which, 56 old apartment buildings (with 58 lots) are newly inspected and 130 apartment buildings (with 165 lots) are re-inspected because most of these apartment buildings were inspected in the 2016-2017 period with C-level inspection results (but it has not been determined whether they are in the case of demolition or not).
The estimated inspection cost is more than 32.5 billion VND, not including the cost of 20 apartment buildings not yet proposed by localities. These are 2 apartment buildings in Hanh Thong ward, 1 apartment building in Go Vap ward, 10 apartment buildings in Saigon ward, 3 apartment buildings in Vung Tau ward, 4 apartment buildings in Thanh My Tay ward.
For 16 level D apartment buildings (dangerous level), the city has completed the relocation of all 534 households in 9 apartment buildings, including: 128 Hai Ba Trung apartment building (94 households), 23 Ly Tu Trong apartment building (81 households), 6 Bis Nguyen Tat Thanh apartment building (26 households), 40/1 Tan Phuoc apartment building (78 households), 47 Long Hung apartment building (30 households), 170-171 Tan Chau apartment building (24 households), 440 Tran Hung Dao apartment building (21 households), 155-157 Bui Vien apartment building (100 households) and Tan Hoa Dong apartment building (80 households). Currently, there are still 3 apartment buildings under construction and 4 apartment buildings not yet relocated.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture has also just issued a report reviewing the planning and proposing architectural - planning indicators for 19 apartment building renovation and reconstruction projects, ensuring feasibility to attract investors. Among these, 10 apartment buildings have been relocated, completely or partially demolished. Many apartment buildings are located in prime locations, central areas such as districts 1, 3, 4, 10, Tan Binh (old).
According to the proposal of the Department of Planning and Architecture, the city needs to make adjustments such as increasing the land use coefficient and floor height to increase feasibility and attractiveness for the project. Ward and commune People's Committees - where there are old apartment buildings, need to quickly adjust the partial zoning plan at a scale of 1/2000, submit it for appraisal and approval to serve as a basis for calling for investment.
In the old Tan Binh district area, there are 3 apartment buildings, including apartment building No. 47 Long Hung, Tan Son Nhat ward and apartment building 40/1 Tan Phuoc, Tan Hoa ward, which are proposed to increase the maximum land use coefficient to 10.
For apartment buildings 170-171 Tan Chau, Tan Hoa ward, it has been proposed to convert to educational land.
The central area (old districts 1, 3, 4) has 6 old apartment buildings with many prime locations such as 155-157 Bui Vien, Ben Thanh ward; 11 Vo Van Tan, Xuan Hoa ward; Truc Giang, Xom Chieu ward; Khanh Hoi ward has 3 apartment buildings including Vinh Hoi (lots A, B, C) 30 stories high; Ton That Thuyet 15 stories high; Hoang Dieu (lot Y) and 10 stories high.
According to the approved project to renovate and rebuild old apartment buildings that are damaged and degraded in the area, old Ho Chi Minh City (excluding Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau) allocates 5 years for the preparation of renovation and reconstruction of 467 old apartment buildings built before 1975 and the number built in the period 1975 - 1994.
Grade B and C apartment buildings built before 1975 will also be repaired and upgraded in the next 5 years. For 16 grade D apartment buildings, the city plans to build 7 new buildings that have been relocated and demolished; the remaining 9 apartment buildings (not yet or being relocated) will be repaired and rebuilt.
By 2035, Ho Chi Minh City will complete the renovation and reconstruction of old apartment buildings before 1975, as well as the number of severely damaged, level D or expired buildings built in the period 1975 - 1994. The city has also approved a policy to support 50% of the cost of technical infrastructure construction (maximum 10 billion VND per project), supporting 50% of the relocation cost for renovation activities of old apartment buildings.
