The issuance of ownership certificates for condotels is still facing obstacles.

Người Lao Động•18/07/2023

Nearly two months after Decree 10/2023/ND-CP, amending and supplementing several articles of the decrees guiding the implementation of the Land Law (Decree 10), came into effect, Da Nang and Khanh Hoa, the two localities with the largest number of tourist villas and resort apartments (condotels) in the country, still have not had a single condotel granted a certificate of ownership (also known as a pink book). The main reason is the lack of guiding circulars.

Establish procedures

Mr. Vu Chi Hieu, Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (TN-MT) of Khanh Hoa province, said that Decree 10 allows buyers of properties such as apartment-hotels, officetels, and condotels on commercial and service land to register ownership rights. However, there is currently no process for receiving and processing applications. Therefore, the department is developing this process and sending it to relevant departments for comments, and will compile a report for the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee to approve before officially accepting applications.

Furthermore, to avoid complications and difficulties during implementation, the department is currently studying condotel sales contracts to identify potential scenarios. "This is a very new issue; we have consulted with many other localities, but none have a specific procedure yet. Therefore, many projects have registered to apply for land use certificates, but we have requested them to wait until a specific procedure is established before submitting their applications to avoid delays. After submitting the applications, the department will continue to compare them with regulations to determine whether they meet the eligibility criteria for issuance," Mr. Hieu stated.

The Cocobay Da Nang condotel project is temporarily suspended and awaiting the issuance of ownership certificates. Photo: BICH VAN

Mr. Pham Nam Son, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Da Nang City, also confirmed that the locality has not yet issued land use right certificates for any condotel projects because it is waiting for guiding circulars. According to Mr. Son, while waiting for the guiding circulars, the department is compiling a number of obstacles to send to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for gradual resolution.

Specifically, the Land Management Sub-Department of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Da Nang City stated that, according to regulations, the land use term for construction projects used for tourism accommodation purposes, including condotels, is determined to be 50 years from the date the investor is granted land allocation, land lease, or land use purpose conversion. However, construction projects used for tourism accommodation purposes often have a lengthy investment preparation phase, so if land use certificates are issued based on the land use term, many projects would only have about 40 years left, or even less than 40 years.

Therefore, the Land Management Sub-Department requests the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to provide further guidance on the duration of use granted to condotel buyers. At the same time, it is proposed to resolve this issue by not granting the right to use construction works for tourism accommodation purposes based on the land use duration, but rather based on the usage duration of the construction from the time the building is put into use. This aims to ensure the rights of buyers, as well as increase socio-economic efficiency, unlock resources, overcome difficulties, and promote the real estate market.

Furthermore, condotel purchase contracts also have some issues, such as: many projects are not classified as commercial or service land but as "residential land without forming a residential unit" - a type of land not included in the law; many apartment purchase contracts do not clearly state whether the property is attached to the land or only the property on the land…

Buyers continue to wait.

According to Nha Trang Bay Construction Investment Joint Stock Company, the investor of the Panorama Nha Trang project and one of the first companies in Khanh Hoa to invest in resort real estate, from 2019 to the present, the company has submitted more than 11 appeals to the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee requesting the issuance of certificates for over 1,000 condotel buyers in the Panorama Nha Trang project.

Following the issuance of Decree 10, which provided more specific and clear regulations on the procedures for granting certificates for construction projects used for tourist accommodation purposes, the investor hopes that the local authorities will soon implement the procedures for issuing ownership certificates to provide maximum support to customers who have purchased condotels.

Many investors in condotel projects in Da Nang City are also delighted with the promulgation of Decree 10 and hope that the issuance of ownership certificates will be implemented soon. Mr. Vo Thanh Nga, Deputy General Director of Thanh Do Investment Development and Construction Joint Stock Company (investor of the Cocobay project, Ngu Hanh Son district), said that to date, the authorities have not yet issued specific guidelines on the issuance of ownership certificates for condotels.

However, according to his research, after Decree 10, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sent a document to localities providing guidance on the implementation of the decree. The document is relatively clear, but it is still unclear how local land registration offices will apply it.

According to Mr. Nga, the Cocobay project has more than 1,000 condotel units that are currently suspended. "If the issuance of ownership certificates becomes a reality, it would be great for condotel projects. Homebuyers are all looking forward to receiving these certificates. Once they have them, this market will certainly become more vibrant. Buyers will have more confidence and transactions will be more successful," Mr. Nga hoped.

To expedite the issuance of land use right certificates, the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province has just issued a decision announcing the revised and supplemented list of administrative procedures in the field of land under the authority of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee allows the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to receive registrations and issue certificates of land use right, ownership of houses and other assets attached to land (commonly known as land use right certificates) to those who receive land use rights transfers, purchase houses and construction works in housing development projects and real estate business projects other than housing development projects. The processing time for issuing the certificate is 30 days from the date of receiving a valid application from the investor and 15 days for issuing the certificate to those who transfer land use rights, purchase houses and construction works.

Tighten regulations on condotel business operations.

According to the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province, the locality has 26 projects with 12,100 tourist apartments and more than 2,580 tourist villas, mainly in the Bai Dai area. Besides implementing the issuance of ownership certificates, the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province has also issued a document requesting relevant authorities to tighten business operations for accommodation services related to condotels and tourist villas.

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