Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The property market awaits technical standardsfor the development of small apartments, which may become a trend to deal withthe housing crisis caused by the country’s rapid urbanisation.

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Construction gave the green light toHCM City to study the development of apartments with areas ranging from 25sq.mto 45sq.m. The city was allowed to have around 20 to 25 percent of newapartments fall within this range while waiting for official regulations.

The ministry is compiling the national technical standards for apartments,which are expected to set the minimum area for commercial apartments at 25sq.m.

The in-effect Law on Housing 2014 does not regulate the minimum area of anapartment. But the Government’s Decree No 100/2015/ND-CP, dated October 20,2015, set the minimum area for a social housing apartments at 25 sq.m.

Due to the lack of regulations, the development of small apartments has been acontroversial topic. Some worried small apartments might turn into slums, whileothers said they would meet a majority of the market demand.

The ministry said the market was showing high demand for affordable smallapartments. For example, studio apartments at VinCity Ocean Park with areasfrom 28sq.m to 33 sq.m, priced from 23 million VND (1,000 USD) and 30 millionVND, recently released for sale and were reportedly already sold out.

According to real estate and investment management services firm Jones LangLasalle (JLL), small apartments are becoming a popular trend in crowded cities– home to over half of the world’s population – where space is sparse, costsare high and finding a suitable place to live is a real challenge.

Stephen Wyatt, country head of JLL Vietnam, said Hanoi and HCM City hadsignificant potential to build micro apartment units.

Most city-dwellers could only afford larger apartments far from the centralareas, but young urbanites now prefer small units in the heart of the city withadequate services, he said.

Micro apartments were a solution, he said, adding that many developers werebuilding units that cater to these changing tastes.

According to Nguyen Trong Ninh, Director of the ministry’s Housing and RealEstate Market Management Department, there is huge demand for apartmentssmaller than 45 sq.m, which are affordable to lower-income workers, singles andyoung families.

Micro units were a potential solution to the shortage of social housingprojects and affordable homes, Ninh said.

Countries like France, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysiaall allow the development of micro apartments.

A minimum apartment area of 25 sq.m to house one to three people fits with Vietnam’snational housing development strategy, which targeted a minimum housing area of8 sq.m per head by 2020.

Ninh said housing quality was not only decided by area but also by constructionquality, facilities, infrastructure and quality of services.

For this reason, small apartments are not always slums.

Property expert Dang Hung Vo said it is time to encourage developers to buildmicro apartments to cope with the shortage of affordable homes.-VNS/VNA