New points to know when changing land use purposes and separating and merging land plots according to the 2024 Land Law

Expanding rights for land users

Taking advantage of this relatively flexible regulation of the 2024 Land Law, from October 2024 to now, like other provinces, Nghe An people, especially in the suburban areas of Vinh city and some neighboring districts and towns, have taken the opportunity to go through procedures to separate plots and change the purpose from garden land and agricultural land according to regulations to residential land.

Specifically, in Article 121 of the 2024 Land Law, there are 7 cases of land use purpose change that must be permitted by competent authorities; in the remaining cases, land users are allowed to change land use purpose and competent state agencies must facilitate procedures for people according to regulations.

People come to do land procedures at Vinh City Public Administration Service Center. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Specifically, 7 cases of change of purpose must be permitted by competent authorities:

- Converting rice-growing land, special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land to other types of land in the agricultural land group;

- Convert agricultural land to non-agricultural land;

- Convert other types of land to concentrated livestock land when implementing large-scale concentrated livestock projects;

- Converting non-agricultural land allocated by the State without collecting land use fees to other types of non-agricultural land allocated by the State with collecting land use fees or land lease;

- Converting non-agricultural land that is not residential land to residential land;

- Converting land for construction of public works, land used for public purposes with business purposes to land for non-agricultural production and business;

- Converting non-agricultural production and business land that is not commercial or service land to commercial or service land.

Files on land use change and land division and consolidation account for over 60% of administrative files at the Vinh City Public Administration Service Center. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Mr. Nguyen Cong Thanh - Director of the Office of Land Use Rights Registration of Nghe An province added: After the 2024 Land Law takes effect, on September 30, 2024, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 34/2024/QD-UBND abolishing Decision 28/2021/QD-UBND and a number of other Decisions, providing more flexible regulations on residential land limits, conditions for land division and merging, creating more favorable conditions for people... Accordingly, in Article 10, Decision No. 34/2024/QD-UBND stipulates that Vinh City, towns, districts, communes in coastal border areas, households with land plots with a minimum area of 50m2 are allowed to carry out procedures for land division and merging to issue certificates.

Regarding authority, Article 123 of the 2024 Land Law stipulates that the authority to permit the change of land use purpose for organizations is the Provincial People's Committee and the District People's Committee permits the change of land use purpose for individuals.

In addition, in case an individual changes the purpose of using agricultural land for commercial or service purposes, although there is no restriction, if the area is 0.5 ha (5,000 m2) or more, there must be a written approval from the Provincial People's Committee before the District People's Committee makes a decision. The competent state agency that allows the change of land use purpose when assigned according to the Law shall not be decentralized or re-authorized.

Financial obligations increase according to the new Land Price List

Talking to us, a representative of the Tax Department of Region X said: Previously, according to Decree 45/2024 guiding the implementation of the 2013 Land Law, when changing land use purposes, people only had to pay 50% of land use fees calculated based on residential land prices; similarly, if changing the purpose from garden land to residential land, 50% of land use fees were calculated...

Decision No. 34/2024/QD-UBND of the People's Committee of Nghe An province has added that land plots in coastal communes with a minimum area of 50 m2 can also be merged and split to issue Land Use Rights Certificates. In the photo: Administrative procedures at the One-Stop Department of Ngoc Bich Commune, Dien Chau. Photo: Nguyen Hai — Administrative procedures at the One-Stop Department of Ngoc Bich Commune, Dien Chau. Photo: Nguyen Hai

However, currently, according to Decree 103/2024/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the 2024 Land Law, in Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 8, land use fees when changing the purpose of use to residential land are 100% of the residential land price after the change of purpose minus the land use fees for agricultural land or garden land before that multiplied by the area requested to change the purpose. For this reason, compared to before, the financial obligations when changing the purpose of use of land under the 2024 Land Law have increased compared to the 2013 Land Law.

However, according to some people who have changed the land use purpose, Nghe An and many other provinces are currently applying the Land Price List for the period 2020-2024, so the above financial obligations are still quite low compared to the new Land Price List. According to the Resolution of the National Assembly on guiding the implementation of the 2024 Land Law, if any locality has not yet issued the new Land Price List for the period 2025-2050, it will temporarily apply the Land Price List for the period 2020-2024 until December 31, 2025.

Financial obligations under the new Land Price List expected to be applied from January 1, 2026 are a challenge for people and businesses. In the photo: People complete procedures to pay registration tax at Vinh Tax Department. Photo: Nguyen Hai — People pay registration tax at Vinh Tax Department. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In Nghe An, a representative of the Tax Department of Region X said: On May 9, 2025, the People's Council of Nghe An province issued Resolution No. 03/2025/NQ-HDND amending and supplementing Resolution No. 19/2029/NQ-HDND approving the Land Price List in the area from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2024; then on May 21, 2025, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province signed Decisions amending and supplementing the previous corresponding Decisions of the Provincial People's Committee on promulgating the land price list in Vinh city and districts and towns for the period 2020-2024. Therefore, according to regulations, the industry must apply the new regulations instead of waiting until January 1, 2026. The dossiers of land consolidation, land division or land use purpose conversion received from May 21, 2025 will be applied according to the provisions of Resolution 03/2025/NQ-HDND and the detailed Decisions on Price List of 20 districts, cities and towns of the Provincial People's Committee.

According to the Appendix issued with Resolution No. 03/2025/NQ-HDND of the province, the planning areas for land fund exploitation auction have their own Price List, including the annual starting price. Photo by Nguyen Hai — According to the Appendix issued with Resolution No. 03/2025/NQ-HDND of the province, the planning areas for land fund exploitation auction have their own Price List, including the annual starting price. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Compared with the above regulations, if the application for land division or land consolidation is received before May 21, 2025, it will be processed according to the old Land Price List, and if the application is received from May 21, 2025 onwards, it will be calculated according to the Land Price List stipulated in Resolution 03/2025/NQ-HDND. People and businesses with demand for residential land, land division, and change of land use purpose should study and refer to the conditions, procedures and finances to comply with the regulations.

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Resolution No. 03/2025/NQ-HDND of Nghe An Provincial People's Council issued on May 9, 2025 stipulates:
- Land price list in 20 districts, towns and Vinh city from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2024.
- The price list of non-agricultural production and business land (excluding commercial and service land) is equal to 20% of the price of adjacent residential land (same route location) or residential land with equivalent location (same route and same infrastructure).
- The price list for commercial and service land is equal to 25% of the price of adjacent residential land (same route location) or residential land with equivalent location (same route and same infrastructure).
- Land price list for production and business purposes serving mineral exploitation purposes: equal to 40% of the price of adjacent land (same route location) or equivalent location.
(Excerpt from Resolution No. 03/2025/NQ-HDND)