People are tired of waiting for the "boost" to renovate old apartments

Hanoi issues series of urgent directives

Since 2005, Hanoi has started renovating old apartment buildings. However, due to many shortcomings and policy changes that have affected the planning progress, this renovation has not met the requirements.

In the 2021-2025 period, the city plans to renovate 10 old apartment buildings, including 4 level D buildings - dangerous level, at risk of collapse, requiring urgent evacuation of residents, including: Giang Vo, Thanh Cong, Ngoc Khanh, the house of the Ministry of Justice; 6 areas that are feasible for renovation are Kim Lien, Trung Tu, Khuong Thuong, Thanh Xuan Bac, Thanh Xuan Nam, Nghia Tan.

By mid-December 2024, no district had yet completed the project. Therefore, Hanoi City continued to issue a document requesting the People's Committees of Ba Dinh, Dong Da, Thanh Xuan, Hoan Kiem, and Hai Ba Trung districts to urgently submit for approval detailed plans, at a scale of 1/500, to renovate and rebuild old apartment buildings in December 2024.

Most recently, the city issued a decision approving the detailed planning task for the renovation and reconstruction of Nghia Tan residential area, at a scale of 1/500. Accordingly, the total area studied for the detailed planning task is approximately 316,611m2.

The time to complete the planning project is 6 months from the date of approval of the planning task. It is expected that in June 2025, the city will complete the detailed planning project to renovate and rebuild Nghia Tan apartment complex (Cau Giay district).

Living and waiting inside dilapidated buildings

According to the reporter, Nghia Tan apartment complex has a population density of about 6,000 people. In the old apartment buildings, the first floor is mainly rented out by households for business and trading. Above the floors are rows of dilapidated “tiger cages” that have been expanded by the residents.

Ms. Tran Thi Tien (living for more than 30 years in Nghia Tan collective housing area) shared that the fact that her house is in the planning area makes her worried that her life will be disrupted and complicated if she has to move elsewhere.

“I and the majority of residents in this collective hope that the housing area will be renovated soon and that we will be resettled on the spot. We also hope that the authorities will study and calculate the compensation coefficient (coefficient K) to suit the wishes of the households,” said Ms. Tien.

Similarly, at Giang Vo apartment complex (Ba Dinh district), at first glance from the outside, the apartment buildings are extremely busy and bustling, with a system of shops and restaurants with all kinds of brands. But in contrast to this image, deep inside are dark, old and degraded corners.

The current state of the old apartment buildings A1, A2, A3 on Giang Vo street has become damp, mossy and covered with climbing roots.

Along the corridors of the houses are broken brick floors, worn away by time. On the walls, people have patched up the broken pieces with cement as a temporary solution.

Also in Ba Dinh district, there are 3 other apartment buildings: Thanh Cong, Ngoc Khanh, and Giang Vo that are at risk of collapsing.

In Mr. Le Dinh Phuc's house (area A of Ngoc Khanh collective), just in the kitchen area, Mr. Phuc had to patch up a series of water troughs and pipes to prevent leaks to the floor.

Architect Tran Huy Anh - Standing Member of the Hanoi Architects Association - assessed that in old collective houses and apartment buildings such as Nghia Tan, Giang Vo... due to the highly developed living environment, after surveys, almost all households on the first floor did not agree with the compensation plans.

"Therefore, no matter what solution is proposed, whether it is feasible or not, the most important thing is still the consensus of the households on the first floor," said Mr. Tran Huy Anh.

Planning researchers also believe that one of the major problems when renovating old apartment buildings and collective houses is that people often lack consensus because the compensation price framework and resettlement policy are still unclear.