Million dollar villa deserted
According to Lao Dong reporters, many villas worth millions of USD in Duong Noi urban area (Ha Dong district), Xuan Phuong urban area (Nam Tu Liem district), Phuong Vien villa (Hoai Duc district)... have been abandoned for a long time.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien (living in Duong Noi ward, Hanoi) informed that with the expectation of changing the face of the western area of Hanoi, the Duong Noi urban area project was started in 2008, with a total investment of nearly 8,000 billion VND; built on a land area of 197.3 hectares, with a scale of 4 sub-areas: Duong Noi urban area 1, 2, 3, 4 (sub-areas A, B, C, D). However, until now, there are still no residents, weeds growing wildly.
"Although the infrastructure and facilities have been completed, the number of residents living in this urban area is still quite deserted. Dozens of adjacent villas and shophouses have been closed for many years. Due to the lack of residents, the items inside the villas show signs of deterioration, some are temporarily fenced, the walls are yellow and stained" - Ms. Hien said.
According to Lao Dong reporter, Song Phuong Ecological Service Point Project is invested by Phuong Vien Trading and Service Joint Stock Company. The project has a total area of over 9.5 hectares, located in Dong Sau area (Phuong Vien village, Song Phuong commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi).
According to the initial approval, the project was intended to serve tourism and resorts. However, the investor has adjusted the goal to build a high-end residential area for sale.
In 2018, the Government Inspectorate conducted a comprehensive inspection of this project and discovered a series of violations and inadequacies in approving, adjusting the project as well as reclaiming land to implement this project. The Government Inspectorate concluded that the project was behind schedule for many years, the investor owed land use fees, land rent and taxes up to 152 billion VND.
Taxing abandoned property is necessary
Dr. Dao Ngoc Nghiem - Vice President of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association - commented that the situation of abandoned villas is quite common, especially in Hanoi. This is a waste of land use, construction and loss of urban beauty.
Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem emphasized that in some countries, it is often regulated that each family can only register one place of residence, while in other places, if you want to own a house, you must be under the management of the Government. But in Vietnam, there is no regulation, so anyone can buy as many residential properties as they want.
Therefore, if the "loopholes" in management and planning mechanisms are not overcome, not only Hanoi but also many other cities and provinces such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai... will see more abandoned urban areas, villas, and houses.
Economist, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh said that this is a waste of land and natural resources, making the urban landscape shabby. Applying taxes on abandoned villas will be a solution to deal with many shortcomings of this type of real estate.
However, implementation in Vietnam is still not yet applicable due to many barriers; the taxation of ownership of multiple real estates and abandoned real estates still has to wait for draft laws to be put into practice in the coming time such as the Land Law (amended) and the Law on Real Estate Tax.
