A corner of the residential area at MBQH 2125 phase 1, Dong Ve ward, Thanh Hoa city. Photo: PV

Stories from the applications

In March 2025, Thanh Hoa Newspaper received a petition from households living in MBQH 2125 phase 1 (belonging to the Housing and Green Park Project in the Southern Thanh Hoa City Urban Area, Dong Ve Ward, Thanh Hoa City).

One of the petitions begins with the words: “This is the fourth time we have sent a petition to the relevant authorities regarding the Investor of MBQH 2125 Project Phase 1 for not issuing red books; the response from the Investor of MBQH 2125 Project Phase 1 and the relevant authorities is not satisfactory, showing signs of delay and avoidance of the legitimate aspirations of the households.”

It is known that MBQH 2125 Project Phase 1 is one of the large urban development projects in Thanh Hoa City with an area of ^{​​82,188.8m2} , including 633 land lots (85 villa land lots, 548 adjacent land lots). Hanoi Hoang Gia Real Estate Joint Stock Company is the winning unit of the auction of land use rights for the project (according to Decision No. 2939/QD-UBND dated August 2, 2018 of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee). The company has fulfilled its financial obligations on land use fees and has been granted a land use right certificate. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources) coordinated with relevant units to organize the handover of land in the field to Hanoi Hoang Gia Real Estate Joint Stock Company since 2019.

Although the State has granted land use right certificates to the project investor, households who bought land at this site have not yet been granted red books. This has become a concern and worry for many households because many related rights are also affected.

Ms. NHA, a resident of MBQH 2125 Phase 1, said: "We have met many times and requested the investor to proceed with the procedures to issue red books to households who bought land, but they have not responded. Living in the middle of a bustling urban area of ​​the city but still not having a red book has greatly affected the lives and activities of the people, such as not being able to register birth, marriage, or study at the ward."

Ms. LTG's family is one of the households that bought land in MBQH 2125 phase 1 in the form of a "loan contract" and built a house in 2022-2023. Her house is also one of many apartments built incorrectly compared to the prescribed design. The front of the house does not have enough 4 floors and 1 top, and the back does not have any free space. Ms. G. shared: "In this area, most of the houses built before 2024 are not designed according to the approved model, because at that time, they just bought land and built, without any guidance, supervision, or reminders from the investor. Many households are now worried, the house design and construction density are not correct, will there be a way to overcome this in the future to complete the red book application? Because houses without red books, many rights of land users are also limited, they cannot mortgage to borrow from the bank, and if they want to transfer to a place more convenient for work, they have to put it aside!"

Legal and liability issues

Returning to the legal story of the MBQH 2125 Project Phase 1, perhaps the crux of the problem stems from the investor's way of implementing the project. According to regulations, the MBQH 2125 Project Phase 1, the investor must complete all construction items of the raw house according to the design approved by the competent authority before selling to customers, but the reality is completely different.

Thanh Hoa City seen from above. Photo: PV

“Immediately after winning the land use rights auction, because there was no funding to build a raw house, Hanoi Hoang Gia Real Estate Joint Stock Company, in coordination with Vietnam Prosperity Investment Group Joint Stock Company, did not build a raw house, but based on the customers' need to buy land to build houses, they consulted customers about selling land through the form of a "Loan Contract". This loan contract requires confidentiality of information", a household that bought land at this location shared.

Some households added: “According to the agreement with the customer, the lot number of the “loan contract” is the lot number, the debt number of the land lot in the project. Customers who pay the full amount according to the agreement will be handed over by the investor with documents including: Loan contract, land handover minutes, commitment to build the house according to the design drawings with attached documents for the customer to build the house themselves. When the customer finishes building the rough house, the investor will accept and proceed with the steps to make a sales contract and carry out procedures to issue a red book to the customer."

This is a fairly common form of “circumventing the law”, instead of building a raw house and selling the completed house, the investor sells land to people through a “loan contract”, then lets people build their own houses. This situation leads to two major and easily seen consequences, which are that people do not have full legal documents on the land sale with the investor, do not have ownership of the land they have paid for; because of lax management, many households do not comply with building houses according to approved urban designs, which leads to many consequences later.

Ms. LT T, a resident of MBQH 2125 phase 1, said: "In the beginning, when customers started building houses, the investor did not check and supervise, so many households arbitrarily built houses according to their own designs, not following the general design drawings. In recent years, supervision has been stricter, and customers have built according to the approved design. Furthermore, each household, when starting construction, must pay a deposit of 100 million VND to commit to building according to the design and 30 million VND for project management and supervision."

The population density of MBQH 2125 Phase 1 is quite crowded up to now. The reporter's observations at some rows of houses on the site show that some households build according to the design, some build against the design. What many households are concerned about is whether the house is built according to the design or not, when will the households buying land on this site be granted red books? "We are worried because we heard that the investor is not carrying out the procedures to issue red books to customers because the investor is no longer managing the total red books, is there a possibility that the households' assets will be violated?" - Ms. NTT, a resident, wondered.

Under pressure from the petition from the people and the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, in February 2025, Hanoi Hoang Gia Real Estate Joint Stock Company responded in writing. In Official Dispatch No. 03/CV-HNHG dated February 10, 2025 and 04/CV-HNHG dated February 14, 2025, the company stated: "Up to now, the Company has completed the construction of 570 plots of land out of a total of 633 plots of land that won the auction and is continuing to invest in the construction of the remaining 63 plots of land. "Regarding capital mobilization through "loan contracts", the company believes that this is a legal activity, based on Clause 3, Article 7 of the Law on Enterprises 2020. Regarding the delay in progress, the company blamed "many factors, both subjective and objective, especially in the situation when the COVID-19 pandemic has been prolonged, greatly affecting the Vietnamese economy in general and the company in particular". It is worth noting that the company has committed: “It is expected to complete the issuance of land use right certificates to eligible households in the second quarter of 2025.”

The MBQH 2125 Phase 1 project is a typical example of the shortcomings in urban project management in Thanh Hoa. The fact that the investor did not build the raw houses according to the approved design but used the form of "selling land" through loan contracts for households to build their own houses, lacking supervision and management during the construction process has led to many consequences. 7 years since the project started, people bought land and settled down, but until now, after many proposals and petitions, they have not been granted red books, leading to public outrage.

The investor's latest commitment to complete the issuance of red books in the second quarter of 2025 is a positive signal, but close supervision from the authorities is needed to ensure implementation according to the set roadmap, contributing to solving the problems in MBQH 2125 phase 1. From this situation, State management agencies need to have more drastic solutions in managing construction order and other issues in new urban area projects, avoiding similar situations in the future.

To Dung - Viet Huong

Lesson 2: "Clone" projects of MBQH 2125 phase 1

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thuc-trang-cac-du-an-khu-do-thi-tai-thanh-hoa--nhung-bat-cap-tu-nang-luc-chu-dau-tu-den-quan-ly-nha-nuoc-bai-1-7-nam-mon-moi-cho-so-do-247273.htm