How many years does land have to be abandoned before it loses its right to use?

Land abandonment is not a rare case, especially for agricultural land. The issue that many people are concerned about is how many years does land have to be abandoned before losing the right to use it?

Will unused land be reclaimed?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 64 of the 2013 Land Law, the time for land recovery due to violations of land laws will vary depending on the type of land.

Specifically, land for growing annual crops must not be used for 12 consecutive months.

Land for perennial crops not used for 18 consecutive months.

Forest land not used for 24 consecutive months.

Land allocated or leased by the State to implement an investment project but not used for 12 consecutive months or the land use progress is 24 months behind the progress recorded in the investment project from the date of receiving the land handover on site must be put into use, except in cases of force majeure.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 66 of the 2013 Land Law on the authority to reclaim land as follows:

Firstly, the provincial People's Committee decides to reclaim land in the following cases: Reclaim land from organizations, religious establishments, Vietnamese people residing abroad, foreign organizations with diplomatic functions, and foreign-invested enterprises, except for cases where Vietnamese people residing abroad are allowed to own houses in Vietnam; Reclaim agricultural land belonging to the public land fund of communes, wards, and towns.

Second, the district-level People's Committee decides to reclaim land in the following cases: Reclaim land from households, individuals, and residential communities; Reclaim residential land from overseas Vietnamese who are allowed to own houses in Vietnam.

In case the land recovery area includes both subjects specified in the first and second cases, the provincial People's Committee shall decide to recover the land or authorize the district People's Committee to decide to recover the land.

However, there are also cases where land is abandoned and unused but not subject to land recovery. Specifically, Clause 1, Article 15 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP is supplemented by Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 10/2023/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the Land Law, which stipulates that land is abandoned and unused but not subject to land recovery according to the provisions of law if it falls under one of the following cases of force majeure: Due to direct impacts of natural disasters, environmental disasters; Due to direct impacts of fires, epidemics; Due to direct impacts of war; Other cases of force majeure decided by the Prime Minister .

Abandoning land can be subject to administrative penalties.

According to Article 32 of Decree 91/2019/ND-CP, in case of not using land for annual crops for 12 consecutive months, land for perennial crops for 18 consecutive months, land for forestry for 24 consecutive months without force majeure, administrative penalties will be imposed.

Depending on the area of abandoned land, the fine will be different. Specifically, the fine is from 500,000 - 1,000,000 VND if the unused land area is less than 0.5 hectares. The fine is from 1,000,000 - 3,000,000 million VND if the unused land area is from 0.5 hectares to less than 03 hectares. The fine is from 3,000,000 - 5,000,000 VND if the unused land area is from 03 hectares to less than 10 hectares. The fine is from 5,000,000 - 10,000,000 VND if the unused land area is from 10 hectares or more.

In addition, individuals and organizations that violate the law are also forced to use the land for the purposes assigned, leased, or recognized by the State for land use rights. In cases where the land has been sanctioned but is not put into use, the State will reclaim the land according to regulations.

Note, the above fine applies to individuals, the fine for organizations is twice the fine for individuals.

Wisdom

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