Ministry of Construction speaks out about ownership of 50, 70, 90 year apartment buildings

Owning an apartment building for a limited time

The Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management said that, when submitting to the Government for an application to amend the 2014 Housing Law, the Ministry of Construction proposed to add new regulations on the duration of apartment ownership in policy content on house ownership instead of the current long-term ownership regulations.

To solve problems related to apartment ownership, the Ministry of Construction proposed 2 options and approved by the Government, reported to the National Assembly to propose them to be included in the National Assembly’s Law-making Program in 2023 ( at Report No. 53/TTr-CP dated March 28, 2022).

Option 1, supplemented, stipulates that the term of ownership of an apartment building is determined according to the term of use of the work in accordance with the provisions of the law on construction.

Option 2, the term of ownership of the apartment building is determined according to the land use term for the construction of the apartment building in accordance with the land law.

Explaining about these two options, the Ministry of Construction said that there are currently some conflicting opinions

In addition to the opinions agreeing with the proposal of the Ministry of Construction, there are also concerns because it is not clear how this time limit will affect the rights of the owner in the future.

According to the Ministry of Construction, there are many opinions about the right to inherit, leave property for descendants or when the ownership expires, how will people’s accommodation be resolved.

“There are even concerns about the phenomenon that people will switch to buying individual houses instead of buying apartments due to the current mentality of wanting to own long-term real estate assets,” said the leader of the Department of Management. home and real estate market said,

Also according to the Ministry of Construction, the proposal to amend the policy on the duration of apartment ownership as mentioned above is based on many bases, both in terms of requirements in the management and use of the apartment building, because it is related related to the properties and lives of many people, on the basis of the actual difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the current policy of renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings and with reference to the experiences of many countries around the world. gender.

For option 1, the Ministry of Construction proposes that the apartment building ownership term is determined according to the useful life of the work based on a number of bases.

Firstly, stemming from the characteristics of the apartment building, which is a typical large-scale project, with many people living, over time, the building will be degraded, no longer ensuring safety during construction. user program.

Therefore, at the end of the useful life as prescribed by the law on construction or when the expiry date has not yet expired but the construction is degraded, the competent authority will inspect and evaluate the quality.

If the work is still usable, it will continue to allow the use according to the conclusion of the competent authority; If the building no longer ensures the safety of the life and property of the owners, the users of the apartment building will have to demolish it to rebuild.

Condominiums can be owned for up to 90 years

According to the Ministry of Construction, when the life cycle of the apartment building is no longer (due to being demolished), the ownership rights of the owners to this apartment building will also end because the property is recognized as ownership. no longer in fact.

“The above regulation is also consistent with the provisions of the civil law. Accordingly, property ownership will be terminated when the property is destroyed or terminated in accordance with the law”, the Ministry of Construction said. said.

Secondly, from the reality of the renovation and rebuilding of old apartments in the past time, the Ministry of Construction said that many cases of apartment buildings have expired, the quality is seriously degraded, affecting the quality of the apartment buildings. affect people’s lives and properties, but it is very difficult to relocate, demolish to rebuild.

“Because people believe that the ownership of this residential property is permanent, the right to demolish is decided by the owners, although the civil law already stipulates the ownership and use of property by the owner. Owners must not affect the properties of other owners, especially adjacent properties,” said the Ministry of Construction.

Currently, in addition to the development of new apartment buildings to meet the needs of the people, in the coming time, it is also necessary to consider and take into account the handling of apartment buildings built in the previous period. expired, and the quality is no longer guaranteed to be safe, the Ministry of Construction said.

Third, according to the Ministry of Construction, the proposed regulations on the duration of apartment ownership still ensure the interests of people living in apartment buildings. Because in the above policy proposal, the Ministry of Construction has also proposed specific situations to handle.

Accordingly, people are still able to exercise the rights of property owners such as buying, selling, giving, and inheriting during the apartment building period.

After the expiration of the building’s use, if the quality inspection results of the apartment building are still safe, the owners will continue to own it according to the time limit stated in the inspection conclusion of the competent authority. permission.

In case the apartment building must be demolished for rebuilding, it will be handled according to the policy on renovation, demolition and reconstruction of the apartment building, and the residents who currently own the apartment building (such as the former owner or the buyer). donation, inheritance, etc.) still have the right to resettle at the old location without having to move to another place.

As for the case where the State has planned to build public works or security and defense works at the old location, the people will be resettled at another location according to the general resettlement policy of the State. .

Fourth, the Ministry of Construction said that the proposal to regulate the term of ownership of an apartment building according to the term of use of the apartment building does not mean that the apartment building only has a term of 50-70 years.

Currently, according to the provisions of the construction law, the useful life of a work is determined according to the construction design documents (design life) and the actual use term.

The design life of the work must be clearly stated in the design documents and related documents (it can be 50 – 70 years or longer depending on the specific project). At the end of the useful life, the competent authority will inspect and evaluate the quality of the work to allow it to continue using or demolish for rebuilding.

Thus, the term of ownership of an apartment building may be 50 years, 70 years or it may be longer than 80 years, 90 years… depending on the quality of the work, said the Ministry of Construction.