"Unfreezing" 156 stalled projects.

On April 24th, representatives of Hung Thinh Group announced that following a meeting on the afternoon of April 21st with leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, two projects had their investment procedures resolved. Specifically, the department issued two documents addressing the issues for the Dat Phuong Nam project (commercial name Moonlight Avenue, in Thu Duc City) and the Vinh Tien project (commercial name Moonlight Centre Point, in Binh Tan District).

The first knots

At the same time, the meeting also definitively resolved issues related to the issuance of certificates to homebuyers for four other projects. Accordingly, in the second quarter alone, more than 2,000 apartments and commercial spaces in the following projects will receive certificates: Moonlight Park View - remaining commercial area (Binh Tan District), Moonlight Boulevard (Binh Tan District), 9 View Apartment (Thu Duc City), and 8X Dam Sen (Tan Phu District).

Previously, on April 19th, Novaland also restarted the The Grand Manhattan project (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) through an agreement with TPBank and the contractor Ricons. TPBank will provide financial support to allow the project to resume construction after a temporary suspension, as well as offer credit packages for homebuyers, while Ricons will act as the general contractor.

This is one of the first projects where the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has focused on resolving legal obstacles. Currently, the project has completed the basic infrastructure, foundation, parking basement, the main structure up to the 28th floor, and some amenities such as the actual model apartment at the project site. Novaland stated that the handover of apartments is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Last week, Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), presented a quick report on the resolution of obstacles facing 156 commercial housing and urban development projects in Ho Chi Minh City. In this report, Mr. Chau stated that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee had considered allowing the investors of five real estate, commercial housing, and new urban development projects to raise capital for 50% of the future housing units in these five projects, equivalent to 5,432 apartments (including 2,989 apartments in one new urban development project).

This aims to support businesses in overcoming difficulties while awaiting conclusions from competent state agencies regarding projects under legal review where the investor has previously fulfilled their obligations to pay land use fees and land lease fees. In addition, there is also a condominium project in District 4 that has received guidance from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for relevant departments and agencies to review and resolve.

HoREA did not provide specific information about the projects that have had their initial obstacles removed. However, in an interview with a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Vu Anh Dung, Deputy Head of the Housing Development and Real Estate Market Department - Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, stated the results of resolving issues for some projects facing difficulties in meeting the conditions for selling houses under construction. Accordingly, a company belonging to GamudaLand Group requested the Department of Construction to confirm that it meets the conditions for selling houses under construction for areas A5 and A6 in the Celadon City urban area project, Tan Phu District. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has agreed to allow the mobilization of 50% of the capital.

The project of Son Kim Land Joint Stock Company, the Song Viet complex in the Thu Thiem new urban area, also requested confirmation of eligibility to sell houses under construction for lot I-17 and has been approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to raise 50% of the capital.

In addition, the commercial center and high-end apartment project of a Gotecland subsidiary in Tan Thuan Dong ward, District 7, also requested approval for the sale of future-built housing units within the project. "The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has met and agreed to allow the mobilization of 50% of the capital," said Mr. Vu Anh Dung.

Lot I-17 of the Song Viet complex project (Thu Duc City) has been authorized by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to raise capital for 50% of the future housing units. Photo: QUOC ANH

Entangled in many areas and departments.

According to investigations by reporters from the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, the aforementioned projects mainly face obstacles related to procedures for selling apartments, land tax calculation, construction permits, reassessment of land prices, inspections, and audits… Some projects have been stalled for many years.

Specifically, the commercial center and luxury apartment project on Ben Nghe Street, Tan Thuan Dong Ward, District 7, commercially known as Shizen Home, is invested by Gotec Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Gotec Land). In 2022, Gotec Land submitted applications to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction three times requesting confirmation that it met the conditions for selling housing units under construction. All three times, Gotec Land's applications were rejected due to the need to review the land use rights transfer process of the project.

The Song Viet complex project (Thu Duc City) is invested by Quoc Loc Phat Company (a member of Son Kim Land). The project covers a total area of ​​approximately 7.6 hectares with an estimated total investment of 7,300 billion VND. In 2017, Quoc Loc Phat Company was assigned by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to implement the project. In 2019, the Government Inspectorate concluded that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee appointed the investor for this project without a land use rights auction, and that the land use fees were calculated and collected improperly. Specifically, the determination of land use fees at 26 million VND/m2 for some land plots was found to be contrary to regulations.

Therefore, land prices need to be reviewed and reassessed to recover outstanding debts and avoid losses to the state budget. This issue has persisted for many years, resulting in the failure to obtain confirmation of eligibility for selling or leasing future housing units, and the fact that completed areas have not yet been granted land use rights certificates and ownership certificates for houses and other assets attached to the land.

The Tan Thang cultural, sports , and residential complex project, also known as Celadon City (Tan Phu District), faces its biggest obstacle in the tax calculation process. The project, initially covering over 90.08 hectares, was developed by Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate Joint Stock Company (Sacomreal, now TTC Land).

Later, the legal entity was transferred to Saigon Thuong Tin Tan Thang Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company (a subsidiary 98% owned by Gamuda Land). Sacomreal stated that when Gamuda Land participated in purchasing the shares, it only paid for the portion recognized in the project as adjusted by the city, and did not pay for the rest.

However, later, the Government Inspectorate demanded that Gamuda Land pay over 400 billion VND in taxes because it had not paid compensation and resettlement support but only bought back shares of the company investing in the project, thus not being able to deduct compensation and resettlement costs from the land use fee and land lease fee for the project... Because of this disagreement, some areas of the project that had been completed and handed over to customers were not issued land titles, and areas under construction were not granted confirmation of eligibility to sell or lease future housing.

According to Mr. Vu Anh Dung, the obstacles at 156 real estate projects relate to many areas: land, investment, planning, construction, finance, etc. With the responsibility assigned by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Department of Construction has coordinated with HoREA to categorize the obstacles according to the responsibilities and authority of the relevant departments and agencies, in order to submit them to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

The list includes 156 projects, but when grouped, each project may have 2-3 issues or recommendations, resulting in a total of 189 recommendations. Specifically, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment is involved in 98 issues, the Department of Planning and Investment in 39, the Department of Planning and Architecture in 20, the Department of Construction in 20, the Department of Transport in 3, the Southern Area Management Board in 2, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department in 4, the Enterprise Finance Sub-Department in 1, and the People's Committee of Thu Duc City in 1.

According to Mr. Vu Anh Dung, the Department of Construction alone has 20 projects with 20 obstacles, and some projects have already been resolved. To date, 14 obstacles have been basically resolved, including 9 with written resolutions, 3 recommendations that lacked legal basis for resolution, and 2 projects that have been submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. "The remaining 6 projects will continue to be addressed, with the Department of Construction directly handling 1 project within its authority and submitting 5 projects to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee – we believe 1 project can be resolved immediately, while 4 projects will require further meetings and consultations," Mr. Vu Anh Dung informed.

Recommendation for a definitive resolution.

With the temporary obstacles removed, Mr. Le Hoang Chau suggested that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and relevant state agencies should soon finalize the decisions regarding these projects, so that the real estate market can receive thousands more apartments, increasing the housing supply, generating cash flow for businesses, increasing market liquidity, and boosting state budget revenue. At the same time, he proposed resolving similar projects where investors have also requested permission to raise capital and sell housing units under construction, thereby revitalizing the real estate market and ensuring fairness for businesses.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/ra-bang-156-du-an-vuong-mac-20230424205941719.htm