Recorded by Lao Dong reporter in early March 2025, the 5-storey apartment complex consists of 9 rows of houses located in Group 13, Tan Thinh Ward, Hoa Binh City. Present at the A1 building, the serious deterioration can be easily seen with the naked eye.
The concrete pillars were cracked, exposing rusty steel core, while the corridor railing rotated over time. The walls of the house are peeling and cracked, creating a shabby scene and posing many potential risks to residents living here.
People here said that the house has existed for more than 40 years, becoming a place of residence for hundreds of households. As time passed, the traces of deterioration became increasingly obvious.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dai (63 years old), who has been attached to the apartment complex since 1985, shared: "After many years of use, the apartment complex has increasingly deteriorated. Water from the upper floors seep down to the lower floors, especially the restroom area, because each family has repaired it according to their own needs. The house with the most intervention will have a more obvious deterioration".
Not only the water pipeline system is degraded, Ms. Le Thi Nhung is also upset when talking about the unsafe situation in the apartment complex. She said: "The A3 row of houses has cracked, partly collapsed, causing residents to worry. The pipeline system is old and broken continuously, water leaks everywhere, making the walls moldy and peeling."
According to Ms. Nhung, more worryingly, there have been people who have secretly dismantled the stairs to sell scrap, making the common path even more dangerous.
Ms. Dinh Thi Xuan - Head of the residential group, said that the apartment complex was built in 1978, and used to be a place for workers drilling and installing hydropower plants in Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant. Currently, more than 260 households here are mainly retired Song Da workers.
Despite their deterioration, many apartments are still being advertised for sale from a few hundred million VND. Thanks to its prime location, close to the main road, this area is still sought after.
"The apartments are 43 - 60 m2 wide. Recently, a 43 m2 apartment on the first floor was sold for 600 million VND. The higher the price, the cheaper it gets," said Ms. Xuan.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Luu Hoai Thanh - Vice Chairman of Tan Thinh Ward People's Committee said: "Currently, this area is divided into small residential clusters and under the management of Hoa Binh Housing and Construction Development Investment Joint Stock Company".
According to Mr. Thanh, after many years of use, people's arbitrary expansion and encroachment have caused the house area to become patchwork and crooked. Infrastructure is increasingly degraded, posing many potential safety risks. However, the 5-storey apartment complex is still not subject to emergency relocation.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper had a series of articles reflecting the similar situation in many old collective housing areas in Hoa Binh City where people are also facing serious damage, including the Expert collective housing area (Huu Nghi ward) and residential areas A8, A9 (Group 3, Tan Thinh ward).
Some images recorded by the reporter:
