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The scope of residential area development projects in the expanded Hanoi has exceeded the target set in the land-use plan of the capital region, by several decades.

As the number of real estate projects in Hanoi exceeds the plan for the whole capital region, hundreds of unsuitable and infeasible projects are being considered for annulment by local and central governments.

The Hanoi People’s Committee on March 23 reported to the government that it would release a report on inspections of real estate projects in the expanded capital city in early April. Real estate investors are very anxious about the report. Chairman of Thach That district, Nguyen Doan Hoan, said that over 100 projects in Thach That have been suspended pending inspection.

How many of the 772 projects will have to give back “gold” land?

There are 772 urban development projects in Hanoi, totalling 145,770ha: 102,761ha in Ha Tay, 14,000ha in Me Linh, 3,383ha in the four former communes of Hoa Binh province and 25,000 in old Hanoi.

According to the Hanoi Urban Development Planning Association, in the construction plan for the whole capital region approved by the prime minister, 55,110ha will be used to develop residential areas by 2010, 111,500ha by 2020 and 172,800ha by 2050.

At present, the area of land proposed for urban development in Hanoi is equivalent to the amount of land targeted for the purpose 40 years from now.

It has been speculated that many of these projects were really initiated so investors could come by prime land.

Before Ha Tay was merged into Hanoi, many companies signed cooperation agreements with the government of Ha Tay to receive pieces of “gold” land. Within two months in 2008, Ha Tay approved hundreds of real estate projects before it became a part of Hanoi. It is said that the old Hanoi has 38 residential area projects; some former districts of Ha Tay, like Dan Phuong, have 15 projects, Hoai Duc has 80, and Quoc Oai and Thach That over 100 each.

Before the expansion, Hanoi had several urban development projects of over 100ha, but in Ha Tay there are big ones up to nearly 3,000ha.

Experts from the Hanoi Urban Development Planning Association said that it was necessary to review real estate projects in Hanoi to choose appropriate ones, but who has been doing the checking and how have they been checking?

Experts said that inspections must be based on the construction plan for the expanded Hanoi, but this plan will not be completed until 2010. They said that inspections should not be carried out until then.

Without clear standards for appropriate real estate projects, inspection results will be inaccurate, unfair or lack scientific grounds, they contended.

But nevertheless, the inspections went forward.

Regarding whom is conducting the inspections, experts from the Hanoi Urban Development Planning Association said they must be Hanoi officials, construction planning agencies and social organisations.

However, with the results expected to be announced in early April, senior experts of the Hanoi Urban Development Planning Association and the Vietnam Urban Development Planning Association say that were not invited to participate in this job.

The Ministry of Construction recently sent a dispatch to the Hanoi People’s Committee asking the agency to strictly combine with foreign advisory agencies in reviewing estate projects.

PV

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