The virtual office rental model has been popular in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore... for a long time. Virtual offices entered the Vietnamese market in 2007, but this type has only recently become effective.
According to document No. 2544/BXD-QLN of the Ministry of Construction, using apartments as offices, production and business establishments does not ensure the provisions of the Housing Law, the Real Estate Business Law, and the Construction Law. This information has caused many mixed opinions.
House for rent in high demand
According to real estate management companies, the demand for office space in Ho Chi Minh City has shown signs of increasing. The director of a building in District 3 said that since the beginning of November 2009, the leasing department of the building has started to get busy again. This situation has also occurred in many other buildings since the past month.
According to the spirit of document 2544/BXD-QLN, using apartments as offices, production facilities, or businesses is not allowed - Photo: Quy Hoa
“Because it is the end of the year and the lease is about to expire, many companies are planning to “move house”. If the price negotiation is successful, they will sign the contract very quickly, without hesitation because they have already explored many places before,” said Mr. Pham Trung Ha, General Director of Hoa Phat Real Estate Company.
However, market developments show that, despite the increasing demand for rental, the office rental market has not yet escaped the general gloomy atmosphere. The reason is determined to be due to high inflation, limited financial resources, making office rental costs beyond the capacity of small and medium enterprises. Ms. Thuy Minh has just rented an apartment in Khanh Hoi (District 4, Ho Chi Minh City) as a business headquarters for 7 million VND/month.
Ms. Minh looked sad when she heard the content of the document from the Ministry of Construction as above, because she had spent more than 200 million VND to renovate and decorate the interior of the office she had just rented. “I rented a small apartment as a long-term office. The whole company only has five people. I cannot afford to rent a space for millions of VND per square meter per month,” she lamented. Similarly, many businesses are concerned because office rents are too high.
That is also the reason why rental housing is booming at this time. According to statistics from the Cen Trading Floor of Century Group, 90% have successfully traded in the rental housing segment. Thong Tam Real Estate Company also said that most of their transactions are currently rental housing, accounting for more than 70%. In addition, there are now houses for rent in alleys on the market.
These houses are mainly renovated houses, rented at prices that are usually only half or one-third of those of standard rental apartments. This creates an unusually vibrant rental housing market, especially at a time when real estate in general is in a frozen period. The virtual office rental model has been popular in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore... for a long time. Virtual offices entered the Vietnamese market in 2007, but this type has only recently become effective.
Virtual office season
Mr. Huynh Duc Sang, Sales Director of Bien Xanh Company Limited, specializing in the production and distribution of purified water, said that his production facility is located far from the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Recently, the company plans to open a transaction office in District 1 as a place to contact customers and carry out advertising campaigns.
But according to calculations, it would cost more than 30 million VND to invest in premises and initial equipment, so he decided to choose virtual office services to cut costs. Accordingly, the company only needs to take care of the core tasks of business operations, while other issues such as office decoration, technology, seminars, conferences, etc. are all provided. For only 1 - 2.5 million VND (or 50 - 120 USD) per month, his company's signboard will be present on the most modern and convenient buildings.
According to statistics from companies providing virtual office services, the number of customers seeking this type of service is increasing day by day. Since the beginning of 2009, the number of companies providing virtual offices has increased by 200% compared to 2008. According to Mr. Trinh Duc Phu, manager of a full-service service, his service receives about 10 customers every day. Meanwhile, Mr. Huynh Quang Viet, executive director of G-Office service (Incomnet Company) said that the world economy will still face many difficulties, so virtual offices are still considered a cost-saving solution for businesses.
Due to the high demand for rental, virtual office rental companies are not hesitant to expand their investment scale. Mr. Phu said that in 2008, his company only had about 1,000m2 of floor space, but now the floor space has increased to 4,000m2. He hopes that with some objective factors such as not allowing offices to be opened in apartments, economic difficulties, businesses cutting costs, etc., the virtual office market will develop widely within the next 1-2 years.
According to Q.VU (Business Newspaper)
