Although we know this is something that needs to be done, in the long term, there needs to be a solution to ensure the interests of both business people and people in need of accommodation.
Smoldering worry
After a series of recent fire and explosion incidents that have caused serious consequences to people's lives and property in mini apartment buildings and boarding houses, Hanoi authorities have taken strong action, conducting a general inspection, reviewing and handling facilities that do not ensure fire safety.
Accordingly, by the end of June 2024, Hanoi City Police had inspected 36,972/36,972 lodging establishments; sanctioned 3,134 cases with 4,310 violations, fined more than 12.83 billion VND; temporarily suspended 672 cases, 75 cases are being suspended, required 16,479 establishments to stop operating; 100% of investors have signed a commitment to implement. For mini apartments, 193 establishments were inspected; temporarily suspended 14 cases, 4 cases are being suspended, required 22 establishments to stop operating.
“This is an unprecedented large-scale inspection of lodging and mini-apartment businesses in the capital. Through that, we have seen many loopholes in ensuring fire safety for people, so when an incident occurs, there is no timely response. Currently, in the capital, the housing business is developing strongly with a large number, so in the coming time, the City Police will continue to tighten inspection and review work to promptly detect and strictly handle violations to ensure maximum safety for people's lives and property" - Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of Hanoi City Police said.
Hanoi is one of the two largest cities in the country along with Ho Chi Minh City. Every year, in addition to having to receive a large number of migrants to live and work, the city also welcomes an additional 200,000 - 300,000 people, which is a mechanical increase in population right in the area. Therefore, housing is one of the pressing social security issues, posing many challenges for the capital's government.
Meanwhile, with the rapid urbanization, the land fund for housing development is increasingly narrowing, leading to the price of housing products constantly escalating, so renting is the leading solution for low-income people (freelance workers, students, workers in factories, enterprises...).
“Cheap products often come with low quality, that’s the reality. Most of the boarding houses that low-income people are renting are buildings that are not built to ensure quality, lack service facilities, and lack fire prevention and safety...
Along with that, people lack awareness of ensuring safety in daily life, creating hidden risks that threaten the lives and property of people living there. Meanwhile, the legal system almost "forgets" regulations on management and operation of this product" - Urban management expert, Architect Tran Huy Anh acknowledged.
Tighten management
Nguyen Hai Linh, a second-year student at Hanoi University of Electricity, rented a room in the Ho Tung Mau area (Cau Giay district). She said that nearly a month ago, the landlord informed her that she had to move to another place because the facility had been temporarily suspended by the city's authorities due to not ensuring fire safety conditions.
“For nearly a month now, I have been looking for a room to rent in areas near my school for convenience, but I have not found one yet, so I had to move my belongings to stay with a friend from my school. Finding a room to rent at this time is even more difficult because many lodging businesses have been forced to temporarily close due to not meeting fire prevention and fighting requirements,” shared Nguyen Hai Linh.
Recently, the boarding house business has flourished in the capital Hanoi, considered a "money-making" real estate type for investors. Those who do boarding house business do not need to have a large amount of finance, with a huge demand for renting from freelancers, students, workers, office workers, even experts... so as soon as the construction is completed, there will be people coming to rent.
In particular, even in cases where investors have to use bank loans to do business, after only 5-7 months of operation, they can rotate the capital to repay the debt. According to the calculations of the landlords, it only takes 3-5 years to recover the initial investment capital, then they can rest assured to earn profits. An investor only needs to manage about 10 boarding rooms to have an income of 30-70 million VND per month.
“In a large city like Hanoi, the demand for housing is huge, but not all workers can afford to rent an apartment. They are forced to live in smaller boarding houses, or even with worse amenities. This benefits both investors and tenants. However, in reality, due to lax management by authorities, thousands of boarding houses have been built and operated without ensuring safety, amenities, fire prevention and fighting criteria,” analyzed Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association.
According to experts, the Hanoi authorities’ general review and inspection of lodging establishments regarding fire prevention and fighting safety in the past and in the near future is necessary and must be done, better late than never after recent fire incidents. However, many opinions also say that the authorities need to have a harmonious and legal solution while still ensuring the interests of all parties.
“At present, mini apartments and boarding houses have developed strongly in large numbers. After careful research and extensive consultation with people, experts, and managers, the Ministry of Construction has included specific regulations on the business of these types in the Housing Law 2023. Currently, the Ministry of Construction is continuing to complete the regulations guiding the implementation, and has sent documents to localities on organizing the review, inspection, and classification of business establishments, tightening new construction activities; along with that, there are solutions to handle and overcome cases that do not meet the fire prevention and fighting conditions so that they can continue to do business in the safest way,” said Hoang Hai, Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction).
It is necessary for the authorities to step up inspection and handling of individual houses for rent or combined business with rent, to propagate and guide the addition of fire prevention and safety conditions, and to resolutely close down establishments that do not meet them. In addition, the State management agency (the Ministry of Construction) also needs to soon issue a Decree and Circular stipulating specific, detailed standards and regulations, guiding implementation and putting the rental business into the conditional business sector, making it easier for local authorities to manage - Lawyer Trinh Huu Duc (Vietnam Lawyers Association)
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/hang-nghin-nha-tro-chung-cu-mini-tam-dung-hoat-dong-can-giai-phap-hai-hoa.html
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