Vinh Loc B resettlement area
Nguyen Ngoc Hoai Tam, a resident at Vinh Loc B, said his family was relocated in the Nguyen Van Cu traffic project. They have moved in there three years ago. Tam's brothers also meet the requirements to buy an apartment there but most of them decided to rent a room somewhere else.
"They already settled at the old location and this resettlement area is 10km away from their schools and workplaces," Tam said.
The similar situation is also seen in the resettlement area for the locals affected by the Thu Thiem New Urban Area Project. The resettlement has 12,500 apartments but thousands are still left empty after five years.
HCM City People's Committee has proposed to auction the apartments to limit losses and wastes. However, in 2015, the city authorities also agreed to sell 953 apartments in Vinh Loc B but failed because many of the apartments have badly deteriorated and need to be re-evaluated. In 2017, the authorities put 3,790 apartments for sale but didn't attract any customers.
Meanwhile, people with real needs for a home there do not meet the requirements to buy the houses or the prices are too high for them. Illegal constructions have become a huge problem in Binh Chanh District due to housing demands from migrants from other provinces.
31-year-old Le Manh Cuong is staying at a rental house. His home is only 10 square metres with simple furniture.
"You get used to it. We are most afraid of the rain because my house is lower than the street and we'll be flooded. A few years ago, we tried to save up and borrow some money when we heard that the city was selling the apartments. But we can't buy it," Cuong said.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, the city has about 476,000 households that haven't had their own houses yet or have to live with relatives. Moreover, 20,000 households that live along canals and channels and 35,000 households that live in dilapidated apartment blocks must also be relocated.