HCM City (VNS/VNA) -The property industry in Ho Chi Minh City, and in fact the country in general,faces several problems that need urgent solutions, especially with regard tolegal provisions.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, generaldirector of Dai Phuc Land, said it took her company 15 years to completeprocedures for one of its projects.

The long delays often meant bythe time a project was underway the design became outdated, she said.

But if the companymade adjustments to meet market requirements, it would have to apply fromthe beginning again, she lamented.

Tran Quoc Dung, Deputy General Directorof Hung Thinh Group, said it took at least one year for a project to completebasic procedures and begin sales, but in most cases it was more like four orfive years.

The final step of issuing redbooks – the title deeds -- to buyers also faced difficulties, he said.

Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of theHCM City Real Estate Association, said there had been a remarkable decline inthe supply of new housing projects in HCM City in recent years.

It was down 20 percent in 2018and 70 percent last year. In 2019 only one project managed to completelegal procedures and begin sales.

Conflict and overlapping legalprovisions were mainly to blame for the decline, Chau said.

"The current licensingprocess involves four steps, which take a lot of time," he added.

Nguyen Trong Ninh, director ofthe Ministry of Construction’s housing and real estate market managementdepartment, admitted these regulations were not consistent because they werefound in multiple laws.

He said HCM City shouldtherefore draft solutions for the difficulties faced by developers, and hisministry and others would give their opinions on them.

Asked about the procedures forissuing land use right certificates, he said in general people must be grantedthe certificate immediately after the deal is completed.

The Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment is responsible for the issuance of red books andhandles them based on each case, according to Ninh.

The Law on Investmentprescribes the procedures for adjusting a project and which ones are handled bythe Department of Planning and Investment and which ones by others.

The law also stipulates thatthe Department of Construction is the authorised agency to handle issuesrelated to construction procedures and apartment planning and adjustment.

He admitted that supply haddecreased this year due to not just to the COVID-19 pandemic but also to theoverlapping and inconsistent laws.

The Government had this yearprovided many solutions to help revive the market and resolve the difficultiesfaced by the industry, he added./.