Residents of the Việt Đức Complex report the the wrong use of apartments in the complex for offices, shops and spas in Hà Nội. — Photo vov.vn

HÀ NỘI — Authorities in Hà Nội's Thanh Xuân District have sent out inspection teams in a crack down on residential properties being used for commercial purposes.

Residents of the Việt Đức Complex in Nhân Chính Ward have reported that about 100 of the 700 apartments in the complex are being used as offices, shops and spas.

A ward representative at Việt Đức Complex told local media that offending business have been given notice and are required to leave the building by the end of July.

"If they don't leave on time, the ward will handle it in accordance with the law," he said.

The Law on Housing 2014 prohibits the use of apartments for non-residential purposes. Authorities have the power to issue fines of up to VNĐ40 million as well as shut down businesses in breach of the law.

According to the law, the ban is to ensure the security and safety for people living in the apartments.

Nguyễn Thanh Quyên, who sells food from her apartment in Hoàng Mai District and has just employed another person to take and process orders from Facebook, says that she should have the right to trade where she lives.

"It is unfair if they don't allow me to trade in the building where I live. Sometimes people travel to mine to take their things but most of the time, I ship to them," Quyên told Việt Nam News.

Quyên also says that shops like hers, during the COVID-19 pandemic, were so much better than the ordinary shops where people came into contact with several sellers or stalls.

One of Quyên's customers, Nguyễn Phương Mai, says she prefers buying food from a shop in her building.

"I don't have to pay for shipping or go down to the front desk to get the food I order from other places and I don't need to travel to other places to buy too."

 Vũ Minh Phương, 26, says she prefers buying from inside of her apartment building because of her relationship with the sellers.

"I prefer buying food from a nearby house, even when I live next-door to Thành Công market, because she [the vendor] gives me recipes and her food is always clean too,” she says.

The population density of apartment buildings, the ability to avoid the inspection of the authorities such as tax collectors or police, and the lower rental prices make opening a business in an apartment building an attractive option. — VNS