Vietnam has three million Vietnamese residing abroad and around 70% of them still hold Vietnamese citizenship. However, 140 Viet Kieu have been approved to own homes in the country since the introduction three years ago of the Housing Law. This is attributable to the two above articles, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
The current housing regulations specify that Viet Kieu who make long-term investments in the nation and have made great contributions to their homeland, cultural activists, scientists who want to reside permanently in Vietnam, and those allowed to live here for six months or longer are entitled to own a house or an apartment.
But in reality, many overseas Vietnamese, specialists and those who have got married to Vietnamese are not entitled to the above stipulations. So, they are not allowed to purchase houses or apartments here in the country.
The draft revisions to the Housing Law suggest adding these subjects on the list and allowing Viet Kieu given permission to reside in Vietnam for three months or longer to own a home.
The Government proposed Article 121 of the Land Law be amended to permit Viet Kieu, once they are allowed to own a house here, to lease it or authorize another party to manage it while they are away.
Construction Minister Nguyen Hong Quan was quoted on Thanh Nien newspaper as saying that the regulations would be relaxed but only those overseas Vietnamese really in need of accommodation would benefit. He said that if Viet Kieu were permitted to own homes, they could not use the properties as capital for contribution and sponsorship.
Many deputies of the National Assembly agreed that there was no point of limiting house ownership by Viet Kieu. Nguyen Ngoc Dao, a deputy of Hanoi, told Tuoi Tre that strict regulations had made it hard for Viet Kieu to buy homes.
“We’ve created favorable conditions for foreign entities to invest in the domestic property market, but not for Viet Kieu,” Dao said in a discussion.
Many expressed concern that allowing overseas Vietnamese to buy houses in Vietnam would result in a lot of rich people from abroad returning home to invest in the property market, but not all overseas Vietnamese wanted to a house in Vietnam.
According to the newspaper, overseas Vietnamese sent home around US$6 billion to Vietnam in 2007, with about 20% of it invested in properties under their relatives’ names.
If the proposed revisions were passed, the number of overseas Vietnamese home buyers would increase 10 times from the current number and the then demand would account for a mere 2-3% of the yearly supply, around 500,000 units, in major cities.
They will have little impact on the local market.
Source: english.thesaigontimes -Dinh Dung in HCMC
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