The Ministry of Construction (MoT) has eliminated a proposal to implement a time limit on apartment ownership in its latest draft Housing Law.

Under the latest amended draft law released by the ministry, local residents can still own the apartment permanently.

In the previous draft, the ministry had proposed 80-100 year time limits on apartment ownership.

In March, the Government sent the National Assembly’s Standing Committee the previous draft law that included a proposal for imposing a time limit on apartment ownership. However, the committee turned down the proposal, saying that it would be a violation of people’s rights.

Besides, analysts said the apartment ownership time limit could make apartments less attractive and push land prices even higher, creating even more of an inbalance in supply and demand, which is a problem the nation is already dealing with on a significant scale and can cause huge impacts on society

Therefore, in a written document sent to the Government on April 8, the MoT, which is in charge of preparing the draft amendments to the law, received the comment of the NA’s committee and proposed the Government not set a time limit for apartment ownership.

Explaining the change, the ministry said this was a sensitive issue and had yet to win consensus among the public.

However, the ministry said they would supplement and clarify contents relating to the time limit for apartment use, requirements for demolishing apartment buildings, and responsibilities of relevant parties upon the demolition and reconstruction of apartment blocks. This action aims to address outstanding issues and hindrances to upgrading and re-building aging apartment buildings.

According to Le Hoang Chau, chairman of HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA), most Vietnamese people often consider houses, including apartments, to be both assets for living and savings as the price of real estate tends to increase over time in Viet Nam that is a developing country and may take many years to reach a GDP of US$7,000 per capita.

If Viet Nam regulates a time limit for apartment ownership in the upcoming amended law, two types of apartment will still exist at the same time in the country in the next 100 years: the existing apartments with no ownership time limit (according to the existing law) and the new apartments with a time limit (according to the new law). The confusion therefore will cause an increase in work for State management agencies at provincial and district levels because they will have to simultaneously manage the two types of apartments.

Sharing the same opinion, Pham Duy Nghia, arbitrator of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre and a lecturer at Fulbright University, said as land or apartments are all assets, people and firms are very concerned when the law intervenes in the assets. If the law goes into more detail, there will be more problems.

Nghia explained that if the law regulates the ownership of apartments for 50 or 70 years, it means the law intervenes in property rights. The rights of the people should be stipulated in civil law and should not be changed or made inconsistent. — VNS