According to Lao Dong reporters, the Government has issued Decree 95/2024/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the 2023 Housing Law, including regulations on apartment classification.
According to Decree 95/2024/ND-CP, from August 1, 2024, apartment buildings will be divided into three classes in order of class 1, 2 and 3. Apartments are ranked based on 8 mandatory criteria including location, amenities, parking, lobby - corridor, elevator, power supply, apartment and a group of criteria according to construction standards.
In particular, the highest class apartment building (class 1) must meet additional conditions regarding distance to parks or entertainment areas. At the same time, the campus of this class apartment building must have an educational or medical service area, sports, private freight elevator...
Regarding parking, every two apartments in a Grade 1 project must have a minimum parking space (slot) with a standard area of 25m2 (according to the standards of the Ministry of Construction in 2021). Grade 1 apartments must have charging stations for electric vehicles.
For class 2, every 4 apartments need at least 1 parking space (standard area 25m2). This level is equivalent to the general standard from 2021 of the Ministry of Construction.
As for class 3 apartments, every 100m2 of usable area has one parking slot.
Also according to Decree 95/2024/ND-CP, based on general mandatory conditions, organizations with expertise in the field of construction and housing will issue specific and additional criteria (if any) to determine and classify each apartment building.
The Decree also clearly states that the publication of information and advertising related to apartment building classes when trading apartments must be consistent with the classified content.
Referring to this content, Savills Vietnam Real Estate Services Group pointed out that the classification of apartment buildings is strictly regulated with more specific criteria to help buyers correctly assess the quality of the project, preventing the situation of virtual fever and self-classification to push up apartment prices unreasonably.
However, Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) - said that in Decree 95/2024/ND-CP of the Government, apartment classification can only be carried out when the project is completed.
However, the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business stipulates that investors are allowed to sell or lease-purchase future housing after completing the construction of technical infrastructure according to regulations; for apartment buildings and mixed-use buildings with housing, only the foundation construction needs to be completed.
According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, the stage when customers are easily "fooled" is when investors rank and upgrade their apartments into super luxury, first-class or foreign names to sell at high prices.
Referring to this content, many real estate experts also recommend that the criteria for classifying apartment projects should be periodically reviewed and updated with new criteria, in accordance with market changes, ensuring benefits for home buyers.
Besides, before spending money, home buyers need to research and carefully evaluate the investor's capacity and reputation, in addition to criteria such as location, selling price...
