Authorities in Ha Noi's Thanh Xuan District have sent out inspection teams in a crack down on residential properties being used for commercial purposes.

Residents of the Viet Duc Complex in Nhan Chinh Ward have reported that about 100 of the 700 apartments in the complex are being used as offices, shops and spas.

A ward representative at Viet Duc Complex told local media that offending business have been given notice and are required to leave the building by the end of July.

"If they don't leave on time, the ward will handle it in accordance with the law," he said.

The Law on Housing 2014 prohibits the use of apartments for non-residential purposes. Authorities have the power to issue fines of up to VND40 million as well as shut down businesses in breach of the law.

According to the law, the ban is to ensure the security and safety for people living in the apartments.

Nguyen Thanh Quyen, who sells food from her apartment in Hoang Mai District and has just employed another person to take and process orders from Facebook, says that she should have the right to trade where she lives.

"It is unfair if they don't allow me to trade in the building where I live. Sometimes people travel to mine to take their things but most of the time, I ship to them," Quyen told Viet Nam News.

Quyen also says that shops like hers, during the COVID-19 pandemic, were so much better than the ordinary shops where people came into contact with several sellers or stalls.

One of Quyen's customers, Nguyen Phuong Mai, says she prefers buying food from a shop in her building.

"I don't have to pay for shipping or go down to the front desk to get the food I order from other places and I don't need to travel to other places to buy too."

Vu Minh Phuong, 26, says she prefers buying from inside of her apartment building because of her relationship with the sellers.

"I prefer buying food from a nearby house, even when I live next-door to Thanh Cong market, because she [the vendor] gives me recipes and her food is always clean too,” she says.

The population density of apartment buildings, the ability to avoid the inspection of the authorities such as tax collectors or police, and the lower rental prices make opening a business in an apartment building an attractive option. — VNS