Focus on solving difficulties for real estate

A series of solutions to remove difficulties by the Government have helped the real estate market become more active. However, experts say that many synchronous solutions need to be implemented to continue to "break the ice" of the market.

Hundreds of projects have been cleared

According to Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi, in order to remove difficulties and promote the real estate market, recently, the Government has established a Prime Minister's Working Group headed by the Minister of Construction to review, urge, and guide the removal of difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of real estate projects for localities and enterprises.

The working group directly worked with 6 localities (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi , Da Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho, Dong Nai) and many real estate enterprises to listen to reports, grasp information, situations and exchange and guide to remove difficulties and obstacles in project implementation.

Up to now, the removal of difficulties and obstacles for the real estate market has begun to have positive results. Hanoi City has directed and resolved 419 projects (equivalent to 58.8% of the initial 712 projects) and is continuing to direct the resolution of 293 projects.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the locality has directed and resolved 67 projects (equivalent to 37.2% of the initial 180 projects), of which 28 projects were under the guidance and supervision of the Working Group; 39 projects were reviewed by the locality.

In Dong Nai province, the Working Group answered and provided guidance for 7 major projects, including projects of Novaland Group, Hung Thinh Group..., identified problems related to urban planning and construction under the authority of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, thereby answering and guiding the Provincial People's Committee and local departments to remove difficulties and problems.

Most recently, the Department of Construction of Dong Nai province has issued a document confirming that 752 low-rise houses in Aqua City of Novaland Group are eligible to sell future housing. In addition, the People's Committee of Dong Nai province also allows the investor to prepare and submit for appraisal the adjustment of the detailed planning 1/500, in parallel with the approval of the C4 subdivision planning project.

At the same time, the competent authority shall create conditions for the investor to continue to implement investment in construction and sales of items in accordance with the approved detailed planning to fully fulfill its commitments to customers.

Binh Thuan Province, to resolve difficulties and obstacles of Novaworld Phan Thiet project also of Novaland Group, the Working Group organized a meeting at the Ministry of Construction with the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province and the project investor to listen to difficulties and obstacles and discuss, answer, and guide to resolve difficulties and obstacles. Up to now, Novaworld Phan Thiet has completed the adjustment of the detailed planning 1/500 of all items for the entire project.

A real estate project facing legal issues in Binh Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HOANG TRIEU

More powerful solution

A recent report by the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) commented that efforts from many sides (Government, ministries, sectors, banking system, real estate enterprises, real estate brokers, etc.) have contributed positively to "maintaining" the market. Although the market is not strong enough to "overcome the slope", it has somewhat escaped the risk of "losing its brakes".

Localities have actively joined hands with real estate enterprises to solve problems and have basically solved the problems for most projects that are still able to restart. However, out of about 1,200 projects with legal problems, worth about 30 billion USD, nearly 800 projects are "waiting in line", more or less negatively affecting the recovery of the market.

Dr. Tran Du Lich, member of the National Monetary and Financial Policy Advisory Council, said that real estate is one of the areas that need to focus on removing obstacles for early recovery, because this is a field that has an impact on many other areas of the economy. The real estate market directly contributes about 10% of GDP and indirectly contributes about 2%-3% to economic growth.

Therefore, it is necessary to have stronger solutions soon to remove difficulties and focus on both supply and demand to help the real estate market recover strongly in 2024, along with strengthening the financial market to create a solid foundation for the coming period.

Citing the story of "collateral damage" from the difficulties of the real estate market, Mr. Nguyen Chanh Phuong, Vice President and General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Processing Association (Hawa), said that the wood and furniture industry of many enterprises has seen a 40%-50% decrease in revenue due to the great impact of the difficulties of the real estate industry.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, also analyzed solutions to remove difficulties for the real estate sector, which are mainly focused on the supply side, such as the VND120,000 billion credit package for lending to social housing investment projects.

Meanwhile, the demand for real estate of individuals is still low due to the decrease in income. The reality is that the real estate market has an excess of high-end apartment projects, while there is a lack of commercial housing projects and social housing with prices suitable to the needs and income of the people.

Economist - Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu acknowledged that Vietnam's real estate law has many problems and overlaps between legal regulations. However, he raised the question if the problems are resolved, can the real estate market recover? That is the big answer.

"I think the problem is not only legal as we expect that if we remove it, the market will recover strongly, but the important thing is supply and demand. Legal is just the legal framework for the market to operate to meet the requirements of supply and demand.

Over the past two years, the Vietnamese real estate market has been out of balance between supply and demand, and has been greatly affected by the difficult macroeconomic situation. Up to now, the market's supply and demand have not been balanced. There is still a large supply of high-end real estate while the majority of people can only buy cheap real estate and social housing," the expert analyzed.

Untie the construction permit bottleneck

Appreciating the efforts of the city's departments and branches to remove obstacles in recent times, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Bao, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Club, hopes that the city needs to remove more bottlenecks and issues related to licenses and regulations that are sometimes unnecessary in practice.

In particular, some regulations are related to construction permits. For example, if an investor applies for a 7-storey building project, if they do not have enough finance to build only 5 floors, they should not be fined. Or the permit will only expire when the 1/2,000 planning of Ho Chi Minh City changes, which is usually every 5 years, but in reality, investors applying for a construction permit must renew it every year and can only renew it a maximum of 3 times.

In addition, there are many other issues that make investors feel "difficult on all sides", so the story of needing to streamline procedures and unnecessary regulations, not necessarily violating legal regulations, has contributed to solving difficulties for project investors.

(To be continued)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/tap-trung-go-kho-cho-bat-dong-san-20231107221552507.htm