Big-spenders splashing out on new high-end apartments in the pursuit of a luxury life-style have been left coping with substandard and potentially dangerous homes.
Ceiling collapse during dinner
Ho Chi Minh City’s high-end Quoc Cuong Gia Lai 1 building caught the headlines when a gypsum ceiling collapsed in apartment A1905 on June 23, frightening local residents and raising concerns over safety and quality.
The incident occurred in an apartment which was constructed only two years ago, threatening the lives six people and embarrassing building constructors, the Quoc Cuong Gia Lai Joint Stock Company, which retail their products under the “Prestigious trademark and quality” brand.
Nguyen Van Anh, the apartment’s owner, said she paid over VND2 billion (USD96,899) for the 131-square-metre apartment. She had lived in the house for two months.
According to the building’s management board, the incident was blamed on the wind dislodging waste water pipes, causing the gypsum ceiling to fall. Local residents were unimpressed with the explanation.
Mistakes
Several incidents have occurred in high-end apartments. Last year, HCM City landlord Ms. Pham Thi Kim Anh had to deal with several problems affecting the properties she had bought. She paid nearly VND4 billion (USD193,798) for apartment A1-6 Hung Vuong 2 in the Phu My Hung urban area.
After living in apartment for only a short time, she realised that there were water leaks in the ceiling of the largest bedroom. After some checks, she discovered that there were two toilets in the floor above her bed room.
Kim Anh called for help from the project\'s investor, the Phu My Hung Joint Stock Company. The water leaks were temporarily blocked, but the situation has remained bad for the past two years.
In 2008, residents in the Saigon Pearl Complex in Binh Thanh District were extremely unhappy when they realised they had been sold houses without electricity, water or pavement. Their basement continues to flood during rainy days.
in 2007, a great number of households at the luxury The Manor development have complained about the bad quality of their houses.
