Small firms oppose prohibition of apartment-based businesses

Small companies say a new decision to ban the use of residential apartments for business purposes is unreasonable and will force them out of the only premises they can afford.

Kim Phung, owner of a residential apartment in Ho Chi Minh City's District 7, said the ban announced by the Ministry of Construction earlier this month came to her as a surprise.

Phung is using her apartment as an office for her clothing distribution company, and she said she had the right to do so.

"I run my own small business at home because it's easier to take care of my family," Phung told local newswire VnExpress. "Most of the time the staff just deliver goods and they don't work here. It would be a waste if I had to rent a brand new office." The ban was unreasonable, she said.

"Why should I lose the right to operate a household business just because I live in an apartment?"

Thuy Minh, who owns a book distribution business in the city, said as she couldn't afford the high rents at office buildings, so she signed a long term contract to use two side-by-side apartments in District 1 as her office.

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The ban on business activities at residential apartments, issued November 19, is an aggressive intervention into the rights of property owners, Minh said in a VnExpress report published Friday.

Many companies in Vietnam, especially small ones, choose to rent apartments to open offices because it's cheaper.

A 100 square meter apartment, for example, costs them around $1,000 a month, or $10 per square meter, which is much cheaper than the lowest rate of $20 per square meter at office buildings.

The Ministry of Construction, however, said it was illegal to conduct business activities in apartments designated for residential purposes only. The ministry said the business offices would negatively impacts other residents in the same building.

As a result, the ministry announced the ban on November 19, asking all cities and provinces in the country to tighten control over the use of residential apartments.



Nguyen Manh Ha, director of the Construction Ministry's Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department, was quoted by VnExpress as saying that the ban was necessary even if it could "shock businesses."

The ministry can't sacrifice the well-being of larger residential communities for the benefits of a small numbers of businesses, he said.

Many companies said the ban would force them out of their offices, a move that would hurting their business.

"If the business activities in apartments don't affect other residents, they should not be banned," Pham Quang Hai, a senior official at real estate company Vinaland suggested.

Phan Phong Sanh, vice chairman of the HCMC Construction Science and Technology Association, said in fact many offices only employ one or two people as most of their business transactions are now conducted via the Internet

Legal expert Le Thuy Huong said laws and regulations are created only for the sake of the people.

"The government should just let residents decide whether to allow business activities in their buildings."

Source: Thanh Nien, SGTT