At the end of October 2025, reporters recorded dozens of Hanoians staying up all night, lining up to submit documents to buy social housing in Dong Anh commune (Hanoi), a project invested by the Ministry of National Defense's 319 Corporation. Although it was only 9am to receive the documents, since midnight, people have come, bringing chairs, blankets, food, and drinks to reserve a spot in the hope of winning a place to buy an apartment.
In contrast to the scene of people " struggling" to submit documents, on social networks there are many posts advertising the sale of "diplomatic" social housing in this project.
Posing as someone who wanted to buy a house, the reporter contacted an account that claimed to have many diplomatic positions.
After contacting a man named Hoang Duc (character's name has been changed) online, this person confirmed that he had diplomatic positions in many different projects. If the buyer is eligible to buy social housing, he can "certainly" arrange to get a rate.
After discussing by phone about diplomatic posts at social housing projects in Dong Anh, the reporter was scheduled to meet directly at Veb Land Company.
Here, a broker named Hoang Duc introduced us to a man named Khanh (character's name has been changed), claiming to be the company's Marketing Director.
Mr. Khanh said that the application submitted to the investor must go through the approval steps, then transfer to the Department of Construction, then go to the drawing round.
"This project is very popular, the number of apartments is small, so the lucky draw rate is extremely low, winning must be very lucky" - he said.
According to him, there are currently about 50 diplomatic missions in the project. The diplomatic rate is said to be near the investor.
The process he gave was that the reporter would submit the application to him, then sign the authorization letter for the "person related to the investor" to submit and "push the application directly".
"First of all, buyers must pay 150 million VND, which is called " going to the source" money. After the application is valid and sent directly to the investor, she will have a receipt of the application and will definitely win the house. At that time, she paid an additional 500 million VND in difference. A total of 650 million VND for a house of over 60 square meters. If we want a 77m2 apartment, we have to diplomate again, the fee difference is about 750 million VND" - Mr. Khanh said.
It is noteworthy that when the reporter suggested signing a contract, the broker did not provide a deposit contract as usual, but only gave a "legal consulting contract" - a way to circumvent the law to cover up illegal transactions.
When asked about the legality, Mr. Khanh explained: "This is a legal consultation contract. Social housing is very sensitive, it is impossible to make a deposit contract because that is a sales contract. The buyers themselves have circumvented the law, this is an illegal act".
According to the contract, the buyer will deposit 150 million VND to Veb Land Company. In the worst case of not winning the apartment purchase price, the company will refund the money to the customer.
It was just the worst case scenario. The company guarantees that she will definitely win the project - Mr. Khanh said.
In fact, there are no legal constraints. All commitments are based on the "belief" that buyers will get an apartment.
Social housing diplomacy is just a scam
Dr. Lawyer Dang Van Cuong - Head of Chinh Phap Law Office (Hanoi Bar Association) said that the policy of selling legal social housing does not stipulate "diplomatic immunity", social housing buyers must meet the standard conditions according to the law.
If the number of people in need and eligible to buy more than the number of apartments sold, there will be a draw, in fact, there are not enough apartments to meet the requirements, so all projects are registered and drawn, no one is allowed to set the standards for " Probability" people.
The information given by some organizations and individuals that there are "diplomatic" sales of social housing undergoing sale procedures is not against the law, and even has negative signs or fraud. Therefore, people need to be cautious about the information about "diplomatic sales".
"Llegal consulting" contracts that are not signed by legally registered legal practice organizations are not legally valid. Because only a legal practice organization ( Lawyer's Office/ Lawyer's Company) is legally registered, because a lawyer with a legal representative card is allowed to provide legal services, including legal consulting services as prescribed in Article 4 of the Lawyer Law.
"Other organizations and individuals who collect legal consultation fees are not permitted by law, and services without registration are not legally valid. If there is a dispute, the court can declare the contract invalid. In addition, if there are fraudulent factors to appropriate money through diplomatic sales advertising or negative things about investors or competent authorities to commit fraud in implementing social housing policies, violators can also be prosecuted" - Lawyer Dang Van Cuong shared.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Dung - Deputy Director of the Project Management Board (General Corporation 319) said that recently, the project has recorded people lining up overnight to submit documents. In case the number of submitted documents is more than the number of apartments, the investor will organize a draw, ensuring that all cases are equal.
"No matter how many cases there are brokers promising to sell at a high price or committing anything, when entering the project, they still have to draw lots like normal people. We do not work with any trading floor or brokerage unit" - Mr. Dung affirmed.
He also said that brokerage firms often use the "umsury casting" method. Accordingly, when attracting customers, if customers accidentally win the house, they will collect the promised amount; if they do not win the house, they can return the money to the customer. Therefore, people must be extremely vigilant.
"People should go directly to the Dong Anh Commune Public Administration Center to prepare documents. Here, the People's Committee of the commune has arranged an office to guide specific procedures. This is the place where people can trust the most, they should not trust any trading floor or brokerage - he said.
It is known that the social housing project in Dong Anh commune is invested by the Ministry of National Defense's 319 Corporation. The total number of apartments is 466, including 419 social housing apartments for sale and 47 apartments for rent. The average selling price of social housing proposed by the investor is VND 20,617,583/m2; the equivalent price of each social housing unit here ranges from VND 824 million to more than VND 1.57 billion/unit.
The time to receive purchasing and leasing registration documents starts from October 21, 2025 to November 25, 2025. It is expected to start signing an apartment sale and purchase contract from December 24, 2025 and hand over the apartment in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The Ministry of Construction has just issued an official dispatch requesting localities to rectify the submission of documents for the purchase and sale of social housing. The Ministry of Construction requires localities to inspect and handle illegal brokerage, "brokers" to collect bookings, collect fees to "guarantee winning documents", and sell diplomatic quotas. Organizations and individuals who violate will be publicly announced to warn the people. The locality also needs to increase post-inspections and reclaim apartments in cases of false declaration and transfer in violation of regulations.
