Should you buy a mini apartment? Pink book, fire safety and risks

Legal basis: Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15, Article 57 (effective 01/08/2024) · Updated 29/10/2026.

"Mini apartment building" (chung cư mini) is the everyday name for a multi-storey building with many apartments built by an individual on their own residential land. The Law on Housing 2023 calls it a multi-storey, multi-apartment house of an individual and, for the first time, sets out clearly when apartments in this type of building can be granted a pink book and sold. Whether buying one is a good idea depends on two things: whether the unit has its own pink book, and whether the building is safe in a fire.

1. When can a mini apartment be granted a pink book

Under Article 57 of the Law on Housing 2023:

Case	Conditions the builder must meet	Apartments
Building of 2 or more storeys, with apartments on each floor for sale or lease-purchase	Conditions for a housing project developer	Can be granted a certificate and sold under the law
Building of 2 or more storeys, with 20 or more apartments, for rent	Conditions for a housing project developer	Can be granted a certificate
Building of 2 or more storeys, with fewer than 20 apartments, for rent only	Construction requirements of the Ministry of Construction, fire safety, access for fire engines (set by the provincial People's Committee)	For rent; to sell units, the building must meet the conditions in row 1

The takeaway for buyers: a mini apartment sold individually is only legally safe once that exact unit has its own pink book. If the seller only offers a handwritten paper, a capital contribution contract or the shared certificate for the whole plot, you cannot be registered as the owner of the apartment — it is hard to get a bank loan, hard to resell and prone to disputes. For the risks of capital contribution contracts, see Capital contribution contracts for buying a home: risks.

2. Fire safety: check on site

Mini apartment buildings are often built on small plots in alleys. The fire at a mini apartment building on Khuong Ha street (Hanoi) on 12 September 2023 killed 56 people; according to the police, the 9-storey building had only one staircase. When viewing a unit, check:

1. Escape routes: whether there are 2 or more escape routes (staircase, fire escape) or only one staircase; whether the emergency exit doors are locked or blocked.
2. Fire engines: whether a fire engine can get into the alley in front of the building — this is also a legal condition for rental buildings with fewer than 20 units.
3. Motorbike parking and electric-vehicle charging: whether they are separated from the escape routes; the cause of the Khuong Ha fire was identified as a short circuit in the wiring to the battery of a scooter parked on the ground floor.
4. Equipment: whether smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and exit signs are working.
5. Balconies and windows: whether the iron grilles ("tiger cages") have an opening for escape.

Ask the owner for the building's fire safety acceptance document or fire safety inspection record; if there is none, treat it as a risk that has not been checked.

3. Mini apartments compared with project apartments with a pink book

Criterion	Mini apartment (built by an individual)	Handed-over project apartment
Pink book	Only if the builder meets Article 57 — check each unit	A certificate for each unit (check it matches the unit)
Management and operation	Under the Regulation on management and use of apartment buildings (Article 57, clause 5) — ask who manages the building and what fees are charged	Management board / operator, management fee, 2% maintenance fund
Bank loan	Difficult without a separate pink book	Banks accept units with a pink book as collateral, based on the valuation
Price	Compare with similar units in the same alley with the same certificate status	Compare with actual transactions in the same building

If your budget is a few billion VND and you want a unit with its own pink book, also compare handed-over project apartments in the same area. For example, in Binh Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 1050 Chu Van An apartment building — 2 blocks of 20 storeys, handed over, with pink books — has a 55 m² unit consigned to HPR with an owner's asking price of 3.1 billion VND (verified 25/10/2026). Each unit still needs its pink book, mortgage status and unpaid fees checked, as in Buying an apartment with a pink book.

4. When buying a mini apartment makes sense

• The unit has its own pink book in the seller's name, with the correct unit number and area.
• The building has at least 2 escape routes, fire engines can reach it, and there is a fire safety inspection record.
• You have asked about the service fee, parking, who manages the building and the rules for major repairs.

If any of these is missing, think carefully or choose a project apartment with a pink book. See also what to check when viewing a home: Viewing a ready home: 7 things to check on site.

This article is for reference only and does not replace legal advice for your specific case.

Sources in Vietnamese; titles kept in the original, with a short English translation in brackets.

• Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15 dated 27 November 2023 (effective 1 August 2024) — Article 57: full text on caselaw.vn, accessed 29 October 2026.
• Vietnam Lawyers Journal — Quy định mới về bán, cho thuê mua, cho thuê chung cư mini theo Luật Nhà ở 2023 (New rules on selling, lease-purchasing and renting mini apartments under the Law on Housing 2023), 29 August 2024.
• Nhan Dan — Xác định nguyên nhân ban đầu vụ cháy chung cư mini tại Hà Nội (Initial cause of the mini apartment fire in Hanoi identified), 20 September 2023.
• Vietnam Law Newspaper — Thông tin về nguyên nhân vụ cháy chung cư mini khiến 56 người tử vong (Information on the cause of the mini apartment fire that killed 56 people), 2023.