Million-dollar Villas Left Untenanted

 

It is not rare to see villas costing hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong (dozens of millions of US dollars) left vacant for decades after crude construction was completed. The unoccupied tendency seems to be increasingly popular. According to a survey by Vietnam Business Forum’s journalists, most new urban zones have vacant villas.

In Van Quan urban zone (Ha Dong district) or Linh Dam urban zone (Hoang Mai district), many villas have been covered by grass and moss although infrastructure is very good and traffic is very convenient. Many migrant workers are using these villas as temporary housing. Even, such mansions also become safe shelters for drug addicts or gamblers. Without residents, these villas were contaminated with bad smells due to lack of sanitation.

 

Co Nhue - Xuan Dinh villa zone, which is situated along Pham Van Dong Road, used to be a dream for many people because of its open space and proximity to supermarkets, schools and hospitals. But, some villas are downgrading because they were vacated and lack of care but authorities and builders cannot intervene repeated transfers.

 

To deal with this reality, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has recently issued Official Dispatch No. 298/VP- CP to request the Hanoi People's Committee to examine a series of abandoned mansion and take timely measures to handle it.

According to experts, most vacated villas are possessed by real estate traders. The vacancy of costly mansions clearly reflects the speculative reality on this market. Traders may make a 5-7-time profit after a long period of leaving them abandoned to wait for higher prices.

 

It is a hard problem to request owners to complete and put into use these villas. Representatives from Co Nhue - Xuan Dinh Urban Zone Management Board and the like said the buyers bear the responsibility to build, complete and put into use villas. Management boards are only in of general outside management. They have repeatedly reminded buyers but there is no progress.

 

Mr Nguyen Tien Hung, Vice Chairman of Co Nhue Commune’s People’s Committee - the governing body - said authorities cannot intervene dealings between buyers and sellers or force owners to live there. Indeed, uninhabited mansions are now ideal places for social evils like drug addicts. Until now, no owners of unfilled villas have worked with authorities when they transfer their assets.

 

At present, Vietnam lacks a consistent solution to put a stop to realty speculation; thus, it is not simple to solve the root of this problem.

 

Mr Pham Sy Liem, Former Deputy Construction Minister, Director of Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute, and Vice President of Vietnam Construction Association, said: The emptiness of expensive villas is a waste but also an outcome of inconsistent planning and irresolute actions of investors. “Clearly, these villas are mostly possessed by very wealthy tycoons. We should not exclude the speculation and hoarding to take profit," Mr Liem noted.