A view of Vinhome Nguyen Chi Thanh apartment building's parking space. The Ministry of Construction has issued a circular to regulate the lease or sale of parking spaces in apartment buildings for the first time. — VNS Photo Viet Thanh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Apartment owners should soon be entitled to buy or rent parking lots in apartment buildings, according to a circular that will come into effect on April 2.

Under Circular No 2/2016/TT-BXD, owners can buy or rent parking lots within the limit set for each apartment. In cases where there are not enough parking spaces, the sale or lease of parking spaces must be done following an agreement among buyers.

The ownership of parking lots can be transferred, but only to other apartment owners or investors in the same building.

Luong Xuan Quang, from Ha Noi's Ba Dinh District, said he welcomed the new regulation as it would help him secure a legal transaction when he no longer wanted his parking space.

Quang said that three years ago, he bought a parking space from another owner for VND500 million (US$22,430), which was about the value of his car.

"This was much more expensive than hiring a parking space, which costs between VND1 million and 2.5 million ($45-112)", he told An ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) newspaper.

"I had no choice but to buy a parking space because it wasn't convenient to live in one place and park the car in another place," Quang explained.

Lack of parking lots in apartment buildings have driven many households in the capital to spend hundreds of millions of dong to buy parking spaces over the past few years.

However, due to a lack of legal documents, the sale of parking lots in the past was based on simple hand-written agreements. This often resulted in unsolvable issues for both trading partners and authorities.

While many apartment owners supported the construction ministry's circular, others raised concerns that buyers may end up paying high prices for parking spaces.

"Once a parking space goes on sale, everyone has the right to purchase it leading to competition and a high price. This contradicts the original purpose of parking lots being to serve local residents," said To Hong Son, a resident from the Golden Westlake apartment building.

To ensure the rights of apartment owners, during the initial implementation period, competent agencies should closely supervise the price and sales process of parking spaces to prevent speculation and ensure a fair price for buyers, said Le Van Son, director of a real estate company on Xuan Thuy Street.

He also suggested that investors assign the building's management board to manage and collect parking fees to avoid the situation where those who need parking space could not find one, while others have space they don't use.

Pham Sy Liem, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Construction Association, agreed with Son's suggestions.

He also proposed that the Ministry of Construction allow construction departments at localities to offer a reasonable ceiling price to prevent investors from speculating in parking spaces. — VNS