Property developers pan proposal to limit apartment ownership term

It would result in insecurity for homebuyers, higher costs, more administrative procedures, and legal inconsistency, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association said.

In considering amendments to the Housing Law, the Ministry of Construction has suggested limiting the period for apartment ownership based on the life expectancy of projects. In proposing amendments to the Housing Law, the ministry said it wants to limit ownership to 50-70 years in line with apartments’ lifespans.

But HoREA wants the current freehold provision to be kept unchanged.

Top ministry officials said leasehold is not prohibited by the law.

HoREA president Le Hoang Chau told VnExpress that apartment ownership terms should not be fixed for all new projects because it is necessary to ensure consistency between the Housing Law and the Law on Land.

Under the latter, developers are allocated land for a certain period of time based on their projects’ life expectancy, but buyers of apartments have freehold.

Chau said apartments are assets of great value and most people want to leave them to their children.

If the ownership term is based on apartment projects’ life expectancy, it could also disrupt the housing market in addition to increasing administrative procedures related to inspection and extension of ownership, and costs as a result, he said.

If townhouses and villas have freehold but not apartments, people would naturally gravitate toward the latter, he pointed out.