On December 25, 2019, the inspectorate in Danang announced that they had discovered 80 violations in 324 cases that had been approved to buy apartments at An Trung 2 social housing project in Son Tra District.
Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Ha, chairman of SBLaw Company, said social housing projects were supposed to be sold at affordable rates to people with low incomes or policy families. However, there are many shortcomings which have raised concern.
People with low incomes, war invalids, families of war martyrs and workers are the intended buyers for the project. They must submit dossiers for review and approval if they want to buy apartments at social housing projects and they are banned from re-selling the apartment within five years. Some people have attempted to buy several apartments at once due to low supply.
"But in reality, the apartments are sold to the wrong people. Many people also rent out their apartment illegally," he said.
He went on to say that due to lax management, few inspections have been carried out on buyers after their dossiers were approved. The apartments have been re-sold and rented out for profit while people with real needs can't access the housing stock.
As a result, despite being a social housing project, the apartment prices at those projects are getting higher and higher. At some places, the cost for a square meter reached VND17 million.
According to the Law on Housing, the contracts of all illegal lease or trading of social homes do not have legal value and the buyers must return the homes to the management board. The provincial people's committees have the authority to forcibly remove the buyers from the homes. The law also states that the administrative fines for selling and renting houses are from VND50 million (USD2,200) to VND60 million.
"One of the causes is lax management from the local authorities, Ministry of Construction and other management agencies. The inspectorate must work hard, crack down on violations and urge authorities to do their jobs properly," Ha said.
