The Ministry of Construction (MoC) has allowed the Dat Lanh Real Estate Company to temporarily apply the minimum areas of 25sq.m for its commercial apartments. However, the apartments should still ensure enough functional space for living.

The company’s deputy director on Friday said that the ministry had answered their proposal of constructing commercial apartments of 20-30sq.m in area each.

The ministry said the Law on Housing 2005 stipulates that apartments must have a minimum area of 45sq.m.

However, many localities also sent documents to the ministry proposing that they be allowed to invest in commercial apartments with areas of 30-40sq.m each. In reality, the demand for such apartments among low-and-middle income earners in big cities and industrial parks was significant, it added.

The revised Law on Housing 2014 also removed the minimum area regulation for apartments.

The MoC said it planned to issue the National Technical Regulations on Apartments in the near future. As a result, the ministry will allow commercial apartments to temporarily apply the minimum area of 25sq.m each while ensuring suitable design and construction of a closed apartment.

Duc said many property firms believed that commercial apartments must have areas of at least 45sq.m each while the ministry had not issued an official position on the issue.

“The answer from the ministry would promote the development of the cheap housing segment to meet the demand of low and middle income people in the big cities,” he said.

Earlier, the company submitted a proposal to the ministry, HCM City People’s Committee and the municipal Department of Construction to build apartments with areas of 20-30sq.m and prices of between VND200-300 million (US$8,700-13,000) in the city.

It said the city should give support to real estate firms that invest in such apartments in terms of technical infrastructure, increasing construction density and reducing the time for completing administrative procedures.

The deputy director said he asked the ministry to build pilot apartments of 30-40sq.m 8 years ago. The company built 780 such apartments in HCM City’s District 12. All of the commercial apartments with small areas sold out quickly.

The apartments came into operation 3 years ago, and still ensure suitable living conditions for residents. This has proven that the small apartments have not affected urban planning. Good management could further ensure the quality of such apartments.

In addition, more than 7,000 apartments of 30sq.m each in the southern province of Binh Duong have been constructed to settle many workers and poor people. The provinces of Dong Nai and Long An have also prepared some smaller apartments. — VNS