Hanoi City People's Committee is seeking opinions on the draft Resolution Regulating policies, measures, criteria, and conditions for implementing urban renovation, embellishment, and reconstruction projects in the city. In which, the draft allocates 1 chapter to mention a number of specific policies and support measures when implementing apartment building renovation and reconstruction projects.
Accordingly, apartment owners can choose one of 4 forms including on-site resettlement, receiving houses at other locations, taking compensation money or both house and money. If the resettlement apartment has a larger area than the old house, people need to pay the difference in area to the investor according to the selling price at the rebuilt project. During the project implementation period, apartment owners and land users are arranged temporary housing or housing rent support by the investor.
Before this proposal, many residents living in old apartment buildings in Hanoi expressed their agreement with the city's policy.
Living in Thanh Xuan Bac collective housing area (Thanh Xuan ward, Hanoi) which has seriously deteriorated, Ms. Trinh Thi Oanh hopes that the collective housing area will be renovated soon to stabilize life and have a better living environment.
I strongly agree with the city's proposal. I personally hope that the compensation coefficient will be appropriate and I will be resettled on the spot to facilitate my children's work and study and ensure a stable life later" - Ms. Oanh shared.
Ms. Tran Thi Truong - a resident of a 3-story apartment building on Le Hong Phong street (Ha Dong ward, Hanoi) also expressed her desire for the apartment building to be renovated to make the urban appearance more spacious.
Previously, I was concerned about the cost of renting a house during the renovation period. With the proposal to support rent during the apartment building reconstruction period, I strongly agree with this policy. When there are clear regulations, I hope the renovation will be implemented soon to ensure a safer and more comfortable life" - Ms. Truong said.
According to the Hanoi Department of Construction, the whole city currently has about 2,160 old apartment buildings that need to be reviewed and renovated. However, the progress of implementation in recent years is still slow compared to the set target. Many apartment buildings such as Thanh Cong, Giang Vo, Nghia Do, Vinh Ho... were built from 1979-1982, and are now seriously degraded.
Previously, the National Assembly issued Resolution 258/2025 with specific mechanisms expected to create breakthroughs in the renovation of old apartment buildings in Hanoi. Accordingly, the city is applied the mechanism of designating qualified investors to shorten the preparation and implementation time of projects.
Along with flexible policies to support temporary residence and convert old houses into new houses, many experts believe that the current legal framework and specific mechanisms are strong enough to promote the progress of renovating old apartment buildings, gradually handling dangerous degraded housing areas, contributing to building a civilized, safe and sustainable urban appearance.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association said that the city has built a project to renovate old apartment buildings since 2001. However, in reality, the renovation of old apartment buildings has not achieved the desired results and is also not in accordance with the set plan, becoming a major challenge for the city.
According to Mr. Nghiem, with new special mechanisms, especially clearer resettlement policies, Hanoi has a basis to expect to create substantive changes. However, the effectiveness still depends on the implementation, supervision and decentralization of management. Deeper decentralization, especially to the ward level, will create conditions to accelerate the progress of renovating old apartment buildings.
