HCM City has allowed the conversion of officetel projects into other purposes, except for residential purposes, to meet the city’s urban development demand, more than a year since it halted licensing new officetel projects.

Halting the licensing of new officetel projects since April 2018 aimed to wait for the Government’s issuance of regulations on this new type of property.

The municipal authority said many projects could not be granted licences because they contained officetel apartments, which made these projects stagnate and affected the city’s development and urban management.

Officetels are multi-purpose apartments which combine residential and commercial purposes where occupants can live and work.

Still, the city admitted that demand for officetel apartments was high, especially from small and medium – sized enterprises.

However, due to a lack of regulations regarding construction standards and management on this property product, the development of officetels was creating pressure on the city’s already-overloaded urban infrastructure system.

The municipal authority said that allowing the conversion of officetel projects into other purposes would help these projects be implemented to add supply to meet market demand.

In July, the southern city proposed the Government issue regulations about managing officetels, condotels and resorts. — VNS