Rural land becomes a boarding house, factories are everywhere
Recordings of Lao Dong in An Khanh commune show a painful reality when rice fields are divided into plots, bought and sold for billions and a series of factories, boarding houses, and even solid houses with 3-4 floors.
Posing as a person who needs to buy land to build a level 4 house and build a warehouse, the reporter (PV) was taken by a broker named Dung to survey many locations in the area near the Academy of Policy and Development.
Right at the An Ha 4 road axis, Dung pointed to both sides of the road and said that this was originally rice fields, but for many years it has been turned into solid construction works. Many households have built factories for rent or built multi-storey houses without any obstacles.
The first plot of land that the broker took us to see was 55m2 wide, with a frontage of nearly 5m. Dung explained that this was a piece of rice field that was once 12 meters wide but had been divided into small pieces by many owners for sale. The asking price for this piece of land is 1 billion VND, according to Dung, it is a "friendly price", because the normal price must be over 1.2 billion VND. This broker firmly said: "Many people have built around. They are living in rice fields but still building factories and houses normally. The law is unwritten, some people have to spend less money, but some still have to spend more money to build it".
According to this broker, this year in An Khanh, many people boldly put money to buy rice fields and build them even though the land does not have a red book. 3-4 story houses on rice fields have become a popular image in this suburban area.
Seeing that the reporter was not really interested in the 55m2 plot of land, Dung immediately contacted another landowner to take the reporter to see a larger plot of land. Just about 300m away, in An Ha village, a man named Toan (born in 1968, residing in this village) welcomed us in front of a 158m2, 6.8m frontage plot of rice fields. To create trust, as soon as they met, Mr. Toan proactively gave their citizen identification card and invited the reporter to go home to show them the land books for the buyer to check.
Responding to the reporter's question about whether he would be handled if illegal construction on this plot of land was carried out, Mr. Toan confidently affirmed that this area does not need to be built at night, nor does he need to worry about the authorities checking. "Many houses have been built, no one is hurt. With enough electricity and water, no one will cut it off, Mr. Toan was determined.
According to Mr. Toan, in this alley, many households have built boarding houses right on rice fields for students to rent thanks to their location near the Academy of Policy and Development.
In the middle of the conversation, both the landowner and the broker continued to take the reporter deep into the alley to see the newly built row of houses. The alley they introduced was originally an old rice field bank, now dumped with waste (also known as construction waste), leveled to create a path.
Inside, a series of houses still have a new scent of paint. These projects have all been completed in a short time, showing publicity despite regulations.
For the 158m2 plot of land that Mr. Toan is looking to sell, he offered it for 15 million VND/m2, equivalent to about 2.3 billion VND, even though this is completely rice fields, without any legal documents to change the purpose of use. If the customer immediately agrees to buy, he is willing to reduce 70 million VND to get a "friendly" price. Seeing that potential customers are still hesitant, broker Dung advised that if they have bought, they can build a part for living and a part for renting to optimize area and income.
Mr. Toan revealed: "Building is not difficult. This is a sensitive matter, but there are only some who are worried. If we only build 1 floor and 1 attic, it will not cost any money to build during the day. I will protect you.
The trick of "taking advantage" of the real estate market by violating
Broker Dung also said that An Ha 4 area still has many fields and is attracting many investors. Dung cited the case of Duong Noi service land, where the selling price increased from 100 million VND/m2 to 250 million VND/m2 in just one year to convince buyers to "etect the attention".
While illegal subdivision, sale of land and construction activities in An Khanh are taking place vigorously, in mid-July 2025, the Hanoi People's Committee requested communes and wards, including An Khanh, to thoroughly handle violations of land management after receiving reports from the City Police.
The city requires comprehensive inspection and examination, and at the same time requires the People's Committees at the commune level to be responsible before the law and the People's Committee of Hanoi City for the management of construction order in the locality.
The grassroots government has been directed to strengthen public service inspections, strictly handle violations and conduct periodic inspections to detect and prevent violations of construction order. However, as recorded, the situation of illegal buying, selling and constructing on agricultural land is still happening openly. solid works continue to grow on rice fields, causing inequality in management and posing potential risks to buyers.
