Hundreds of houses in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang were found to have been built without the proper permits, resulting in troubles and headaches for their owners.

The residences found to be in violation of permit regulations are located in the K38 residential area in My An Ward, Ngu Hanh Sin District, a housing project developed by the 98 Project Management Committee under the Ministry of National Defense.

Two hundred and seventeen houses are under construction in the area, all of which were originally meant as homes for military soldiers and officers, however, many officers chose not to settle in the houses and have instead opted to resell the residences to civilians.

According to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters, most of the residences have completed exteriors and reached three stories tall.

V.H., a local resident who purchased one of the houses, stated that she first became aware that the houses lacked a building permit when she was unable to finalize the legal procedures for ownership to be transferred to her name.

According to Le Ngoc Nam, an official from the People’s Committee in My An Ward, residence transfer procedures for the houses cannot be completed due to the lack of building permits.

Though local authorities are aware of the situation, they have not penalized the project developer because the land plots are owned by the military, Nam stated, adding that the military’s ownership disallowed inspections from being carried out on the construction site.

Aside from the absence of building permits, the balconies of the houses were also built wider than allowed, compromising public space along the neighborhood’s sidewalks, said Tran Thi Kim Hien, deputy director of the Land Registration Office in Ngu Hanh Son District.

The constructions also violated the city’s urban planning regulations, Thai Ngoc Trung, deputy director of the municipal Department of Construction, added.

Regarding a solution to the issue, no decision has been announced by local authorities, Vu Quang Hung, director of the city’s construction department, said during an interview with Tuoi Tre on Tuesday.

A meeting has also been convened between the municipal People’s Committee and the developer of the project to discuss the problem, Hung continued.

Any adjustment to the houses will be decided over the next few days, the official stated, adding that competent authorities should also take the rights and benefits of the owners into consideration.