They have land but don't dare build a house.
Visiting alley 26, street 12, Tam Binh ward, Thu Duc city (Ho Chi Minh City), we witnessed many subdivided plots of land with an area of approximately 50 m² , 5 m wide and 10 m long. Many houses were built before, but many others were recently constructed. While houses built before Decision 56 came into effect were allowed to occupy the entire plot with a height of one ground floor, one mezzanine, two upper floors, and a rooftop; newly built houses must be set back 2.4 m from the front and 1 m from the back, resulting in an overall uneven appearance. Notably, the requirement to leave a setback according to the new regulations has left many people feeling dissatisfied.
Speaking to us, Mr. Tuong, a local resident, said that he had already had a building design made, but when he submitted the application to the Urban Management Department of Thu Duc City for a permit, he learned that his house was required to be set back 2.4 meters from the front and 1 meter from the back. This leaves the remaining length of the house at 6.6 meters, making it very difficult to design and arrange rooms. "I saved up for over ten years to buy this plot of land to build a house and settle down, but while the houses next to mine have taken up all their land, I'm at a great disadvantage due to the setbacks. Now I can't build, I can't live there, and I can't sell it either. My family still has to rent. I hope the city will abolish these regulations that are not in line with reality so that we can build houses and live there with peace of mind," Mr. Tuong said.
Despite owning land, Mr. Tuong (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) doesn't dare build a house and has to rent a place to live because of new regulations requiring houses to be set back significantly from the road.
Residents on Street 22, Linh Dong Ward, Thu Duc City, are also upset about the setback requirements and land use coefficients being applied there. Mr. Cuong owns 100 m² of land and planned to build a company office combined with a warehouse. However, when applying for a building permit, the floor area was reduced by almost half compared to before and compared to other houses in the area, so he stopped. "If I build a house, I will only build about one ground floor and one and a half floors. Meanwhile, the two houses on either side have already been completed with one ground floor, one mezzanine, three floors, and a rooftop, and they don't have to set back from the front or back. This is too unfair to those of us who built later," Mr. Cuong said.
Based on our observations, the rows of houses built before Decision 56 came into effect typically consisted of a ground floor, a mezzanine, three upper floors, and a rooftop. However, after Decision 56 took effect, the land use coefficient in this area was reduced to only 1.75, requiring a setback of 2.4 meters from the front and 2 meters from the rear. This means that for a 100 m² plot of land, residents are only allowed to build a total usable floor area of 179 m² , equivalent to a ground floor and one and a half upper floors.
Mr. Duy Thanh, residing in Long Thoi commune, Nha Be district, stated that when applying for a building permit, he was forced to set back 4 meters from the front and 2 meters from the back, even though the road is 7 meters wide and the sidewalk is already quite wide, nearly 1 meter. "My land is 98 square meters, but now I have to set back 6 meters from the front and back, losing almost all of my land, leaving only 30 square meters for construction. Decision 56 is inappropriate, unpopular with the people, and creates too many difficulties for the citizens. I hope the city will soon review and revise Decision 56 to make it more suitable," Mr. Duy Thanh suggested.
Decision 56 needs to be amended quickly.
According to lawyer Hoang Thu (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association), the Ministry of Construction has issued Circular 01 regulating building setbacks, building density, land use coefficient, etc. Ho Chi Minh City's Decision 56 is inconsistent with the spirit of the circular. According to Decision 56, smaller land plots have lower building density than larger plots. For example, land plots in subdivided areas with an area of 50 m² have their density reduced by up to 34%. Many areas currently have very low land use coefficients, while Circular 01 aims for very large land plots to ensure fire safety and ventilation. When investors need to develop high-rise housing projects, they will use the land use coefficient to control population size. For individual houses, the height, building density, and setback are controlled by the building height, not the land use coefficient. Therefore, the application of land use coefficients to individual land plots in Ho Chi Minh City is unreasonable.
"Ho Chi Minh City has a huge demand for housing and consistently ranks among the top in the country. Ideally, a plot of land (not located in areas with special requirements) should be given maximum space as stipulated in the Construction Law, Circular 01, and the general planning of Ho Chi Minh City when people build houses. However, this is now severely limited. This seriously reduces the efficiency of land use to serve the living and working needs of households, affecting people's lives and economy . The purpose of Decision 56 was to make the city more uniform and beautiful; but in practice, many problems have arisen that are not suitable, not close to the people, and even cause harm to people, so it needs to be amended accordingly," lawyer Hoang Thu stated.
Recognizing these shortcomings, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction sent a document to the Department of Planning and Architecture to provide feedback on amending and supplementing Decision 56 to better suit the reality. According to this document, the regulation stipulates that the rear setback for terraced houses on plots larger than 50 m² must be 1-2 meters. This leads to a smaller construction area, affecting the rights of residents. Furthermore, in existing, stable areas, the regulations on rear setbacks lack uniformity and consistency. Therefore, according to Mr. Le Tran Kien, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction, it is necessary to consider adjusting the rear setback regulation so that it only applies to new urban areas and existing urban housing areas with planned renovation and upgrading. Regarding the regulation on maximum height, it is also necessary to review any errors and make corrections and adjustments as directed by the Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Bui Xuan Cuong.
Decision 56, through its practical application, has proven effective in concretizing national technical standards and regulations on planning, architecture, and construction to manage architecture in accordance with the actual conditions of Ho Chi Minh City.
However, some content is not in line with practical realities, and some contains errors in the drafting, typing, and printing process. Therefore, a review is necessary to correct, adjust, or supplement the content of the regulations on architectural management in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City , Bui Xuan Cuong
Source link
Comment (0)