Developers oppose ownership duration limit on apartments

Tran Quoc Dung, deputy director of Hung Thinh Corp, a major developer of apartments in Ho Chi Minh City, said the city needs a lot more apartments, even underground, due to the land shortage.

A spokesperson for South Korean conglomerate Lotte said the proposal to limit ownership is not appropriate since Vietnam’s high urban population growth rate requires more high-rise apartment buildings.

Freehold possession would encourage more people to buy apartments as they consider it an asset, it said.

"Instead of limiting ownership duration, the government should impose tighter regulations on construction quality and maintenance to help the apartment market develop steadily."

Industry insiders said even before the proposal has been approved, a marked reluctance to buy apartments has appeared.

The head of a property development company in HCMC, who asked not be identified, said most people save for almost a lifetime to buy an apartment and so buying an asset with a limited ownership duration is not something they are happy about.

The proposal might jeopardize the city’s policy to prioritize apartments for housing, he added.

The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association and its counterparts in Can Tho City and Binh Duong Province also slammed the proposal.

Su Ngoc Khuong, senior director, Savills Vietnam, said a survey would show most people do not want apartment ownership to be limited by time.

Besides, foreign investors, who now consider Vietnam an attractive property market, could reconsider that if the regulation affects the market negatively, he added.