Management of off-plan property to be enhanced
Management of off-plan property to be enhanced
The Ministry of Construction has asked localities to enhance the management of sales of off-plan property before June 15. 
The ministry made the request due to recent reports of legal violations in the development and transactions of off-plan property, causing disputes, creating risks for buyers and harming the real estate market.
The construction ministry requested localities to publicise information about off-plan property projects. Such projects eligible for transactions would be integrated into the national public service portal.
Provinces and cities must check to ensure compliance with laws about procedures and conditions for transactions of off-plan properties, especially payments and mortgages.
The rules for buying and selling off-plan property were included in the Law on Real Estate Business in 2006.
Despite this, transactions of off-plan property remain complex, forcing several provinces to urge buyers to be cautious and send warnings about law violations from developers.
The Department of Construction of Quang Nam Province in mid-May issued a document to better manage the real estate market in the central province. The provincial construction department asked developers of real estate projects to put their developments for sale only when meeting requirements in the Law on Real Estate Business and other legal documents.
The northern province of Bac Giang’s Department of Construction recently announced a list of urban and residential projects which were not eligible for transactions, urging citizens to study projects carefully before purchasing.
Early this year, Son La Province’s construction department announced 11 commercial housing projects not eligible for capital raising or transactions as of March.
A lawyer said the transactions of off-plan properties had not been put under property management, resulting in violations from developers such as using buyers’ advance payment for the wrong purposes, especially developers with weak financial capacity, and not following commitments about project quality or progress.
Ministry to inspect stagnant, abandoned projects
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said it could work with provincial People’s Committees to inspect real estate projects suffering stagnant progress or sitting unfinished and abandoned for years.
Real estate projects which were left deserted were causing significant waste of land resources. The ministry pointed out several reasons for the stagnation, including slow construction progress of contractors, failure to complete legal documents, facing disputes, shortage of infrastructure system and inconsistencies in overall planning.
In Ha Noi, there were a number of stagnant projects, mainly in Hoai Duc, Me Linh, Nam Tu Liem and Bac Tu Liem districts.
Some have been deserted for years, such as Song Hong City which was approved in 1994 and AIC new urban area, approved 13 years ago.
A report by the municipal People’s Committee showed 383 projects in the capital city had signs of violations of the land law, 379 of which were inspected from July 2018.
Among them, 35 projects with a total area of 57ha were given 24 months of extension for the deadline to put the land into use. If the developers still failed to put the land into use after the extension, the land would be confiscated without any compensation.
Twenty-nine projects with a total area of 1,840ha were proposed to be revoked land and the investment projects cancelled.
