Inspections of all old apartment buildings must be finalized by year end
VGP - Ha Noi plans to finish inspections of all old apartment buildings citywide before Q4, 2025 as the city seeks to accelerate renovation efforts.
In a directive issued this week, the city prioritized drafting and approving detailed plans, master layouts, and consolidation schemes for old apartment buildings.
Local authorities are required to complete these tasks in central districts such as Dong Da, Ba Dinh, Hai Ba Trung, Giang Vo, Bach Mai, Kim Lien, Hoan Kiem, Thanh Xuan and Hoang Mai by the end of the third quarter of 2025, while other areas will follow by the fourth quarter.
The Department of Planning and Architecture will oversee studies and approvals, while the Department of Construction and local ward authorities will conduct inspections and quality assessments.
Findings will be reviewed by the Appraisal Council before the end of 2025.
The directive also calls for new mechanisms to attract investors, including cutting administrative procedures by at least 30 percent and allowing state investment in infrastructure outside project boundaries.
Authorities will closely monitor and promptly handle severely deteriorated buildings that require demolition and speed up investor selection and site clearance to meet targets set by the municipal Party Committee and People's Council.
Giang Vo old apartment buildings in Ha Noi
Addressing long-standing bottlenecks
Ha Noi is home to 1,579 old apartment buildings constructed between 1960 and 1992, many of which are severely degraded. The issue whttps://en.baochinhphu.vn/as first raised in the 1998 Capital Construction Master Plan, but progress has been limited. To date, only 19 renovation projects have been completed, while 14 are still underway.
Between 2021 and 2025, the city planned to renovate 10 old apartment complexes, including three in Ba Đình District. However, none have started due to height restrictions limiting new buildings in downtown areas to 18–24 stories, which has made projects financially unviable for investors.
According to Mac Dinh Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction, about 340 buildings have been classified as dangerous and require immediate relocation. Despite their prime locations, redevelopment has struggled to attract investors due to the same regulatory constraints.
Nguyen Ba Nguyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Architecture, said that with recent changes removing blanket bans on high-rise construction, new projects must now comply with population density and infrastructure standards instead.
Ensuring residents' interests
Many residents remain concerned about resettlement locations, compensation rates, and livelihood disruption during reconstruction.
The city has pledged to protect residents' rights through on-site resettlement and relocation to modern, better-equipped housing areas.
Ha Noi aims to accelerate reconstruction between 2025 and 2030, combining state-led planning with private-sector participation and focusing on large-scale projects in Giang Vo, Thanh Cong, Ngoc Khanh and Kim Lien.
Party Secretary Bui Thi Minh Hoai earlier stated that the city would "seek ways to address the issue," including proposing policy reforms to the central government and studying feasible local solutions to ensure residents move into modern areas with improved living conditions.
Meanwhile, the market for old apartments remains active, with some 40-year-old units listed for sale at over VND 100 million (US$3,905) per square meter./.
