Villas and architectural works built before 1954 in Hanoi will not be licensed for renovation and repair in the near future.

An old house in Au Trieu street that has been repaired

The municipal People’s Committee recently issued the decision on management of old houses and valuable architectural constructions.

The Department of Construction will review the management of villas built before 1954 and report difficulties to the People’s Committee. It will review villas with French architecture that must be preserved. On that basis, a list of ancient houses will be proposed to the Co-operation Programme with the French Embassy for consideration.

According to the city's leaders, in recent times, many renovations and design changes for the old buildings have taken place. For example, in Pham Dinh Ho ward (Hai Ba Trung district), there have been a series of renovated and repaired villas transformed into restaurants and bars.

Also in the ward, Villa No 7, Lane 2, Hang Chuoi street, originally a Group 3 villa, was demolished and replaced with a seven-storey building.

However, the construction work in a narrow alley unreasonably impacted neighbours, while the basement construction was found to be against regulations, so construction was suspended. The area is now a vacant lot.

Villas in Hanoi are divided into three groups. Group 1 features villas associated with ranked historical and cultural relics or cultural heritage. Group 2 includes villas with architectural value but not in group 1, located on main streets such as Phan Dinh Phung, Dien Bien Phu, Hoang Dieu, Tran Phu and Nguyen Thai Hoc. The remaining villas are in Group 3.

Similarly, Tran Hung Dao Ward, Hoan Kiem district is home to many old villas, which are also massively renovated and newly licensed, including those with illegal construction works.