HCMC leaders, including the city’s Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong, Vice Chairman Le Hoa Binh and heads of departments, held a meeting with 16 real estate firms on February 27 to help them ride out their difficulties.

HCMC chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong speaks at the meeting – PHOTO: NLD

Deputy director of the HCMC Department of Construction Huynh Thanh Khiet said the real estate supply in 2020 dropped 34% year-on-year. As investors have focused more on the up-market segment, the proportion of newly developed luxury apartments and medium apartments jumped from 25% to over 41% and from 23.8% to 57%, respectively. Meanwhile, that of budget apartments dropped from 51% to 1%.

A representative of Novaland Group said some of the group’s projects are facing difficulties related to construction permits, house ownership certificates or legal procedures of the Thu Thiem new urban area.

“We hope that the Government and leaders of the city and departments will help us promptly resolve problems, enabling us to speed up our projects. This will help provide more products for the real estate market, meet the demand of the citizens, improve social security and contribute to the state’s budget,” he said.

Le Huu Nghia, director of Le Thanh Real Estate Company, said his company’s social housing projects have faced difficulties related to the legal procedures and tax policies. The time set for completing social housing project procedures has been shortened from between three and five years to 11 months but poor coordination between departments and districts may lengthen the process.

A representative of Thao Dien Real Estate JSC said the company has completed all procedures required by the relevant agencies. However, the land has not been handed over to the company to build a social housing project over the past 10 years.

Addressing the meeting, chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association Le Hoang Chau suggested reducing investment license procedures to only four steps to save time and costs for businesses.

HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong assigned the city’s Vice Chairman Le Hoa Binh with working with departments to help real estate firms resolve problems related to investment certificates, tax policies and house ownership certificates.

“The city will try to help 61 projects that are struggling to resolve their problems before April 15,” Phong stressed.

Going forward, the city will regard planning as a tool for construction management. The city will support the Department of Planning and Architecture and hire foreign experts to ensure proper planning.

According to Phong, the real estate sector contributes 8.2% to the city’s total revenues. Helping real estate businesses ride out difficulties is therefore vital for the city’s development.

By The Saigon Times