Hanoi district wants to double maximum height of 50-year-old apartment complex

The Trung Tu apartment complex area, spanning 12 ha, was constructed from 1972 to 1975, with 29 apartment buildings with 4-5 floors and no elevators. Each building has around 60-120 apartments, along with 119 houses.

The homes at the apartment complexes have been degraded over time. Most families have expanded their living spaces, causing the outside areas of the homes to be distorted and damaged. Some corridor sections have been destroyed to make room for pipes and electric cables, disrupting the internal structures of walls.

As the structures were built many years ago, several homes suffer from mold, and the walls and roofs are leaky. Public areas had also been encroached to create houses and shops. The first floor is used for business.

Dong Da District is gathering opinions on the planning of Trung Tu apartment complex. The density of the complex, per the planning of the urban area at ratio 1/2,000 as approved by the city in 2012, is at 30-60%. The minimum height would be kept at two storeys, but the maximum height has been proposed to be doubled.

The expected infrastructure in the planned area would include apartments, houses, villas and other social amenities like kindergartens, schools, parks, gardens, administrative buildings, traffic roads and parking lots.

Along with Trung Tu, the district also plans to renovate two other apartment complexes Kim Lien and Khuong Thuong, built in the 1970s and now home to thousands of people.

By 2020, Hanoi had over 1,500 old apartments, including those built before 1954.

Since 2005, Hanoi has been renovating old apartments. However, due to changes in policies, so far there have only been 19 completed or functional projects, accounting for 1.2% of all old apartments.