Ho Chi Minh City needs to respond to these 'distortions'.

Ho Chi Minh City has officially mandated that real estate project developers in the city are prohibited from subdividing and selling land plots within their projects to individuals or organizations for self-construction of houses. Many believe that Ho Chi Minh City needs a plan to prevent potential abuses of this practice.

The Law on Real Estate Business, effective from August 1, 2024, prohibits the subdivision and sale of land plots in urban areas.

The field team inspects the management of state-owned land in Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: Thanh Dao).

Recently, to implement the Law on Real Estate Business, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City issued Decision No. 83/2024 on regulations for determining areas where real estate project investors and housing construction investment projects are allowed to transfer land use rights with technical infrastructure to organizations and individuals for self-construction of housing in the area.

With this decision, Ho Chi Minh City officially prohibits the subdivision and sale of land plots to address this persistent problem. Specifically, real estate project developers in the city are not allowed to subdivide and sell land plots within their projects to individuals or organizations for self-construction of houses. According to this regulation, in addition to the wards and districts, land in five suburban districts, including Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Can Gio, Cu Chi, and Nha Be, is also prohibited from being subdivided and sold.

Meanwhile, the city only stipulates that land subdivision is permitted for households and individuals whose land meets the conditions to be considered for subdivision.

Preventing illegal land subdivision and sale.

Regarding the content of Decision 83/2024 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau - Member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, commented that the new decision of Ho Chi Minh City... This will have a significant impact on the city's real estate market, directly affecting the business operations of entities involved in real estate trading and the rampant illegal subdivision and sale of land plots that has occurred in the past.

Banning land subdivision and sale will help many cities address the problems of "chaotic planning" and "price inflation" in the real estate market. (Photo: Dai Doan Ket).

Lawyer Hau also predicted that after Decision 83/2024 is issued, there will inevitably be conflicting opinions from the public, the business community, and real estate companies.

According to Clause 6, Article 31 of the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business, one of the conditions for transferring land use rights for land with technical infrastructure in real estate projects to individuals for self-construction of housing is that: “ The land is not located in wards, districts, or cities of special, type I, type II, and type III urban areas; and is not subject to auction for land use rights for investment in housing construction projects as stipulated in the Land Law. For other areas, the Provincial People's Committee shall determine the areas where project investors are allowed to transfer land use rights with technical infrastructure to individuals for self-construction of housing based on local conditions .”

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau predicts that the aftermath of Ho Chi Minh City's new decision will have a significant impact on the city's real estate market.

Thus, according to lawyer Nguyen Van Hau, Ho Chi Minh City has concretized the provisions of the Law on Real Estate Business. Specifically, the details of this are guided by Article 2 of Decision No. 83/2024. Specifically, this applies to investors of real estate projects and housing construction projects throughout Ho Chi Minh City. The right to use land with existing infrastructure within a real estate project or housing construction investment project to organizations or individuals for self-construction of housing is not permitted.

Except in cases where the investor of a real estate project or housing construction project aimed at resettlement with land plots in communes, towns, or districts of a city meets the prescribed conditions, they may transfer the right to use land with technical infrastructure within the real estate project or housing construction project aimed at resettlement with land plots to individuals for self-construction of houses.

Comparing the content of the Law on Real Estate Business with Decision No. 83/2024, Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau stated: This decision by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has significantly narrowed the legal regulations regarding areas where project developers can transfer land use rights with existing technical infrastructure to individuals for self-construction of housing.

However, this is not considered illegal because "The Law on Real Estate Business has empowered the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to decide, based on local conditions, which areas project investors are allowed to transfer land use rights with existing technical infrastructure to individuals for self-construction of housing," Lawyer Hau stated in his assessment .

Overall, the latest regulations from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will help the country's "locomotive" address many shortcomings regarding the rampant and destructive practice of land subdivision and sale that disrupts urban planning. At the same time, Minimizing unauthorized construction by residents not only reduces the problem but also lessens legal risks for homebuyers, requiring real estate project developers in the area to continuously improve the quality of their products . Furthermore, Decision 83/2024 aligns with the " Investment and Construction Plan for Districts to Become Cities (or Cities under Ho Chi Minh City) giai đoạn 2021-2030" that the city is currently developing. Specifically, by 2030, districts will focus on investing in infrastructure development towards urban standards to be upgraded to cities directly under Ho Chi Minh City.

Responding to 'distortions'

Immediately after Decision 83/2024 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee was issued, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association sent a written petition to the City People's Committee raising several concerns.

Speaking with a reporter from Dai Doan Ket Newspaper on the morning of November 1st, Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, said that the Association had also sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front regarding the proposal to specify in detail the areas where real estate and housing project developers are allowed to transfer land use rights with existing technical infrastructure to individuals for housing construction in communes, excluding towns, in 5 districts of Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, under the 2023 Real Estate Business Law and the 2023 Housing Law, Ho Chi Minh City is a special urban area, therefore, only in cases where land is located in wards, districts, or cities of special urban areas (including 16 districts and Thu Duc City) are investors prohibited from transferring land use rights with existing technical infrastructure to individuals for self-construction of housing.

Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Department of Construction, and the Ho Chi Minh City Fatherland Front Committee, recommending that land subdivision and sale should still be permitted in communes belonging to 5 districts of Ho Chi Minh City. This is because prohibiting land subdivision and sale in these 5 districts is inconsistent with the regulations of the Law on Real Estate Business and the Law on Housing.

Therefore, the Association has proposed that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee specify in detail the areas where real estate and housing project developers are allowed to transfer land use rights with existing technical infrastructure to individuals for self-construction of houses in communes, excluding towns in the five districts of the city.

Regarding the "aftermath" of Decision 83/2024 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau - Member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association - believes that the application of this Decision may make the supply of land plots in Ho Chi Minh City even scarcer, failing to meet the needs of the people. Therefore, it is likely that the prices of previously subdivided land plots will increase sharply in the near future, limiting the number of buyers due to insufficient financial capacity.

Sharing this view, Engineer Tran Van Phuong, director of a real estate brokerage company in Thu Duc City, stated: If regulations prohibit land subdivision and sale, Ho Chi Minh City needs to anticipate the possibility of developers, organizations, and individuals "circumventing the law" to subdivide land plots. The new regulations on land subdivision should still allow households and individuals with land to be considered for subdivision if they meet the conditions. If allowed to "distort," the practice of land subdivision and sale will become more sophisticated and negative, affecting the real estate market in general.

Due to its proximity to District 7, Nha Be District in Ho Chi Minh City is currently experiencing very rapid urbanization.

Regarding urbanization, architect Nguyen Van Bieu, Director of Bhomes Co., Ltd., believes that the new regulations stipulate that, in addition to wards and districts, land in five suburban districts, including Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Can Gio, Cu Chi, and Nha Be, is also prohibited from being subdivided and sold as plots. "In recent years, we all know that despite being labeled as suburban districts, the urbanization rate in some areas, such as Binh Chanh (especially Trung Son area) and Nha Be (Phuoc Kien area), has been rapidly increasing. Urban infrastructure is modern, and in many places, the rate of infrastructure construction and population concentration is even higher than in some central districts," architect Nguyen Van Bieu analyzed.

Speaking to reporters from Dai Doan Ket Newspaper, representatives from several businesses and residents expressed concern that although there are no longer cases of small-scale real estate companies buying agricultural land from people and then illegally creating "projects" to sell, the situation of abandoned land subdivision projects without infrastructure, including stalled projects, will continue to plague the real estate market of this "leading" city if no solutions are found. This will prevent the root causes of the problems from being resolved.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/cam-phan-lo-ban-nen-tp-hcm-can-ung-pho-cac-bien-tuong-10293610.html