Ministry of Construction defends controversial circular

At the press conference on February 28, deputy minister of Construction, Nguyen Tran Nam, denied the accusation from the NA's Juridical Committee, who said that their circular was not legitimate and might provide investors with loopholes to swindle customers. 

The circular provides for two different measures of an apartment: that of the floor space and that of the area of walls and electrical boxes, elevators and hallways. This provides for two separate measuring systems. 

"The investors and customers can still negotiate their own contracts to find the best solutions. Either way, the price of an apartment won't be different. But buyers must know that the investors have not calculated by square metre, but by the number of apartments," said a representative of the ministry.

The deputy minister added that they would scrap a method after receiving complaints that management and maintenance fees would incur losses for the customer in the long-term.

Previously, residents at the Kengnam buildings have complained that they had to pay for areas that they cannot use. One resident of Kengnam said she bought a 206.95-square metre apartment that was really 176.66 square metres in floor area.

"The contracts did not mention anything about measuring walls or hallways. Now the investors went back to South Korea and the management board continues to change their representatives so we brought this issue to court." Trinh Thi Mai, another resident in Kengnam building said.

(Source: news.com.vn)