Real estate transactions in Soc Son are facing difficulties.

Báo Tài nguyên Môi trường•16/05/2023

Transaction issues

Mr. Nguyen Hong Tuan (an investor) shared that in 2019, his family purchased a plot of land in Minh Phu commune, Soc Son district, with a registered land area of 1,200m2 (this land certificate was issued by the Soc Son District People's Committee in 1992). After completing the notarization procedures, he submitted the application to transfer ownership at the Soc Son District One-Stop Service Office. However, according to the notification, this land certificate was issued exceeding the permitted residential land limit, therefore the transfer could not be processed.

“My family is very worried because we have paid in full and the notarized transfer of ownership has been completed. Now, if they reclaim the land title, I will lose everything. The land title was issued by the State and bears a red seal, which is why I dared to buy it. Therefore, the people cannot be forced to bear the consequences,” said Mr. Tuan.

Not only are land transfer transactions difficult, but the over-allocation of residential land is also directly affecting the rights of people who lose their land when the Nam Son landfill is relocated.

The allocation of land exceeding the permitted limit makes it difficult for people to benefit from resettlement policies.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai is one of 14 households subject to relocation within a 0-100m radius of the landfill's impact zone. According to regulations, her family is eligible for resettlement land allocation. However, the city's inspection report revealed errors in the initial issuance of land ownership certificates to these families, exceeding the residential land limit. As a result, when these certificates were sold, divided, or gifted, many no longer indicated residential land. Therefore, according to regulations, many households, despite having land ownership certificates stating residential land, are still ineligible for resettlement.

“My land title covers 1,800 square meters of residential land. In 2017, I divided it among my four children, giving each of them 400 square meters. The land titles have been transferred to them. Now, the authorities are refusing to recognize it. They're only giving us 400 square meters out of 1,800 square meters. If we move to the resettlement area, I'll only receive one resettlement plot of 70-80 square meters, which is unsuitable for my family to live on. Therefore, we have to stay here to live and raise livestock,” Mrs. Mai said angrily.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Ha, Chairman of the Hong Ky Commune People's Committee, stated that due to land ownership limits in land certificates, only certificates issued within the permitted limits are currently being considered for resettlement for residents of the Nam Son landfill area. Certificates exceeding the limits will be revoked and reissued according to the original limits to the original owners. However, over the long period from 1993 to 2015, the original land certificates have been subdivided, bought and sold multiple times, and all subdivisions have been approved by competent authorities, with residents fulfilling all financial obligations. Therefore, relocating residents to new homes has been difficult, even though the resettlement areas have had their infrastructure completed by the district and are only waiting for residents to move in.

The government needs to remove the obstacles.

Speaking with reporters, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, Acting Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Soc Son district, said that out of 12,000 land ownership certificates, 3,000 were issued between 1993 and 2000; and 9,000 were issued between 2005 and 2012. All households have land use rights dating back to before 1980.

Currently, the District People's Committee has successfully persuaded 1,000 households to voluntarily adjust their residential land limits in accordance with regulations. However, 11,000 land titles remain unprocessed.

According to Mr. Toan, handling land use right certificates issued in excess of the permitted limit is very difficult because during the land use process, households have registered changes, exchanged, or reissued certificates after splitting, buying, selling, transferring, or gifting land, making it impossible to revoke the land use right certificates issued improperly as stipulated in Article 106 of the Land Law and Government Decree 148/2020/ND-CP dated December 18, 2020.

"When carrying out land clearance, compensating based on the residential land area recorded on the land certificate is not in accordance with regulations. If compensation is based on the initial limit (no more than 400m2/household), the households will not agree," Mr. Toan said. In particular, households within the land clearance area of the environmental impact zone (0-500m) will face many difficulties when implementing land clearance according to the Noi Bai International Airport development plan in the upcoming phase.

According to Nguyen Huy Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, regarding the 12,000 cases of residential land exceeding the permitted limit in Soc Son district, the Government Inspectorate had previously issued conclusions on this matter. However, it is not possible to issue a single mechanism to resolve the issue; Soc Son district needs to categorize the cases and work together to resolve them based on the principles of fairness and reason. The entire political system needs to be involved to address this problem.

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