THE 2024 LAW ON LAND ON MULTI-PURPOSE LAND USE
NEW PROVISIONS OF THE 2024 LAW ON LAND ON MULTI-PURPOSE LAND USE, LAND USE CONVERSION TO PROMOTE A SAFE, HEALTHY, AND SUSTAINABLE REAL ESTATE MARKET
Dr. Nguyen Đac Nhan
Deputy Director General, Land Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Law No. 31/2024/QH15 (the Law on Land 2024) consists of 16 chapters and 260 articles. The law was meticulously and seriously prepared based on the comprehensive review of the practical implementation of the Law on Land 2013, relevant international experiences, and it fully institutionalizes the viewpoints and orientations for renewing policies and laws on land according to Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated June 16, 2022, of the Fifth Plenum of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party on “Continuing to innovate, perfect the institutions, policies, enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of land management and use, creating a driving force for our country to become a high-income developed country” (Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW).
The Law on Land 2024 was passed by the 15th National Assembly on January 18, 2024, at the Fifth Extraordinary Session, marking a significant event with breakthrough innovations in land policies.
The Law on Land 2024 has fundamentally resolved the obstacles and shortcomings identified during the review of the implementation of the Law on Land 2013; it meets the requirements of land management and use in the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization of the country, developing a socialist-oriented market economy in the context of deep international integration, and it is suitable for the demands of the 4.0 industrial revolution.
The new provisions of the Law on Land 2024 promptly meet the aspirations and expectations of the people; they meet the requirements for economical, efficient, and sustainable use of land resources in the new period, aiming to maximize the potential of land resources to serve the general socio-economic development, including “New provisions of the Law on Land 2024 on multi-purpose land use and land use conversion to promote a safe, healthy, and sustainable real estate market.”
I. Some new provisions of the 2024 Law onLand
1. On the rights of land users
The law stipulates that land users as individuals include: domestic individuals and overseas Vietnamese who are Vietnamese citizens. Thus, overseas Vietnamese who are Vietnamese citizens have full rights and obligations in land management and use as domestic individuals. This will enhance the efficiency of land use.
For public non-business units assigned land by the State without land use fees, if they need to use part or all of the assigned land area for production, business, or service provision, they can convert to leasing land with annual rental payments to effectively use the land resources of the public non-business units.
The law supplements provisions that domestic organizations assigned land by the State to implement projects (social housing, housing for the armed forces, renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings, or to implement business-purpose investment projects) that are exempted from or given reduced land use fees and land rent have the same rights and obligations as those not exempted or not given reduced land use fees and land rent.
The law supplements provisions that individuals who do not directly engage in agricultural production can receive the transfer of rights to use rice-growing land within the land allocation limit; if exceeding the limit, they must establish economic organizations, have land use plans for rice-growing land, and obtain approval from the district-level People’s Committee; additionally, it supplements provisions that individuals using agricultural land can transfer agricultural land use rights within the same provincial administrative unit to other individuals without paying income tax from the land use rights transfer and registration fee.
The law supplements provisions on the “Right to lease in a land lease contract.” The right to lease in a land lease contract is the right of the land user established when the State leases land and collects annual rental payments. The land user can transfer the right to lease in the land lease contract; the transferee of the right to lease in the land lease contract inherits the rights and obligations of the land user according to the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws (Clause 37 Article 3 Law on Land 2024).
Land users leasing land from the State with annual rental payments (except public non-business units) can mortgage, contribute capital, sell their owned assets attached to the land and the right to lease in the land lease contract when meeting the conditions specified by the Law; additionally, individuals leasing land from the State with annual rental payments have the right to inherit and donate their owned assets attached to the land and the right to lease in the land lease contract.
2. On land use planning
The 2024 Law on Land stipulates that land use planning is to be developed in a synchronized and unified manner from central to local levels (national, provincial, and district levels).
National land use planning targets are controlled only for rice-growing land, protection forest land, special-use forest land, production forest land which is natural forest, defense land, and security land. Localities are assigned the task of determining land use targets in their land use plans to proactively develop their local socio-economies.
The content of annual district-level land use plans specified in the Law is simpler, and it is not required to include the demand for land use conversion associated with residential plots of households and individuals in the annual district-level land use plan; Specific provisions are made for certain cases that do not need to be included in the annual district-level land use plan.
3. On land recovery
The Law specifies conditions and criteria for land recovery with 31 specific cases where the State recovers land for socio-economic development for national and public interests; in addition, to ensure that in truly necessary cases where land recovery arises but is not stipulated in the Law, Clause 32 Article 79 specifies that for other (arising) cases, the National Assembly will amend and supplement the cases of land recovery in Article 79 through a shortened process.
Notably, for land recovery for new urban construction or urban renovation and embellishment, the Law stipulates that “investment projects for urban area construction serving mixed functions, with synchronized technical infrastructure, social infrastructure, and housing systems as prescribed by construction law” (Clause 27 Article 79), which will create a civilized and modern urban appearance, contributing to improving and enhancing the quality of urban life.
At the same time, the Law also stipulates cases of land recovery aimed at creating land funds to promote the real estate market, such as: recovering land to implement investment projects for social housing construction, housing for the armed forces, except for cases of agreement on land use rights acquisition; investment projects for the construction of official residences; investment projects for the renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings; resettlement projects (Clause 21 Article 79); projects in the vicinity of transportation connection points and traffic routes with potential for development (Clause 26 Article 79).
4. On land finance
The Law does not stipulate a land price framework.
The Law specifically stipulates four methods of land valuation, including: the comparative method, the income method, the residual method, and the land price adjustment coefficient method; and assigns the Government to stipulate other land valuation methods beyond these four methods with the agreement of the National Assembly Standing Committee.
The Law specifies the cases and conditions for applying each land valuation method.
The Law expands the composition of the specific Land Valuation Council, allowing in addition to specialized agencies under the People’s Committee, representatives of consulting organizations for land valuation, land valuation experts, members of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at the same level, and other socio-political organizations to participate in the land valuation meeting to ensure independence and objectivity in the valuation process.
5. On decentralization and delegation of state management in land
To create initiative and enhance the responsibility of local governments, the Law decentralizes the authority to allow the conversion of forest land, rice-growing land use purposes to the Provincial People’s Council (the 2013 Law on Land stipulates this authority as belonging to either the Prime Minister or the Provincial People’s Council depending on the scale of the area to be converted), to create initiative and enhance the responsibility of local governments.
Decentralization to the Government for the approval of the national land use plan (according to the 2013 Law on Land, this was decided by the National Assembly); Decentralization to the Prime Minister for the approval of provincial land use planning and provincial land use plans (according to the 2013 Law on Land, this was approved by the Government) to create flexibility in the management of the Government and localities.
Decentralization of specific land price determination authority to the Chairperson of the district-level People’s Committee for cases of land allocation, land lease, permission to change land use purposes, etc., under the authority of the district-level People’s Committee to create local initiative, contributing to accelerating the progress of land allocation, land lease for the implementation of socio-economic development projects, including real estate projects.
II. New Provisions of the 2024 Law on Land on Multi-Purpose Land Use and Land Use Conversion to Promote a Safe, Healthy, and Sustainable Real Estate Market
1. Multi-Purpose Land Use
1.1. Concept of “Multi-Purpose Land Use”
Based on the provisions of the 2024 Law on Land (Article 218) and Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP detailing the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Land (Article 99), the concept of “Multi-Purpose Land Use” can be defined as follows:
“Multi-Purpose Land Use” refers to the use of a portion of the land area designated for the primary land use purpose for another purpose. The primary land use purpose is the purpose for which the land parcel was allocated, leased by the State, or recognized for land use rights, currently being used stably and eligible for a Certificate of Land Use Rights.
The area used for the combined purpose should not exceed 50% of the area used for the primary purpose, except for residential land used for multi-purpose use.
“Multi-Purpose Land Use” does not change the primary land type as classified and identified according to Law on Land provisions; does not remove the necessary conditions to revert to the primary land use; must comply with the relevant Law on Land and other related laws.
1.2. Regulations on the Regime of “Multi-Purpose Land Use”
The 2024 Law on Land and Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP stipulate that land used for multi-purpose use is managed and used as follows:
a) Types of land used for multi-purpose use:
The 2024 Law on Land specifies the types of land used for multi-purpose use in Clause 1 Article 218, including:
– Agricultural land used in combination with commercial, service, livestock, medicinal plant cultivation purposes;
– Land used for public purposes, land for construction of public works, religious land, belief land used in combination with commercial, service purposes;
– Residential land used in combination with agricultural, commercial, service purposes, business-purpose public works;
– Land with water surfaces used for multi-purpose use according to regulations on the use regime of land with water surfaces such as ponds, lakes, lagoons, coastal water surfaces, specialized water surface land, and river, stream, canal, channel, creek, spring land;
– Land specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 9 of the 2024 Law on Land used in combination for agricultural purposes, construction of postal, telecommunications, technology, information infrastructure works, outdoor advertising, solar power.
Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP stipulates that the use of land for combined purposes does not fall under the category of land use conversion as prescribed by the Law on Land; the area used for combined purposes should not exceed 50% of the area used for the primary purpose, except for residential land used for multi-purpose use.
b) Requirements for multi-purpose land use:
The 2024 Law on Land stipulates that multi-purpose land use must meet 07 requirements (in Clause 2 Article 218), including:
(1) Does not change the land type as classified in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 9 of the 2024 Law on Land and identified in the types of documents stipulated in Article 10 of the 2024 Law on Land;
(2) Does not remove the necessary conditions to revert to the primary land use;
(3) Does not affect national defense and security;
(4) Minimizes impacts on the conservation of natural ecosystems, biodiversity, environmental landscapes;
(5) Does not affect the land use of adjacent plots;
(6) Fulfills all financial obligations as prescribed;
(7) Complies with other related laws.
c) Conditions for multi-purpose land use:
The 2024 Law on Land stipulates that if a public non-business unit uses land to construct public works in combination with commercial and service purposes, they must convert to leasing land with annual rental payments for the combined area; the exploitation and use of multi-purpose land must be accounted for according to legal regulations.
Cases of land use in combination with commercial and service purposes must develop a land use plan and submit it to the competent authorities for approval. The content of the combined land use plan includes:
(a) Information about the parcel or land area being used (location, area, form of land use; land use duration);
(b) Area, purpose of combined land use, duration of combined land use;
(c) Content that meets the legal requirements for environmental protection and other relevant legal provisions.
Regarding detailed conditions for multi-purpose land use, Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP stipulates that constructions on agricultural land for multi-purpose use must meet the following requirements:
– The construction must have an appropriate scale and nature, and be easily dismantled;
– The area for constructing works for combined use on rice-growing land, forestry land must comply with the provisions of the Decree detailing regulations on rice-growing land and forestry law;
– Land with water surfaces must not be filled to alter the flow, surface area, or depth of the water layer;
– The construction and renovation of works for combined use must comply with construction law and other relevant laws;
– The duration of land use for combined purposes must not exceed the remaining duration of the primary land use purpose.
Therefore, with the addition of provisions on multi-purpose land use in the 2024 Law on Land, particularly the stipulation that land for public purposes, land for constructing public works, or religious land used in combination with commercial and service purposes; residential land used in combination with agricultural, commercial, service purposes, business-purpose public works, has created a legal framework to mobilize land resources, bringing land into use for its potential and inherent advantages.
This also serves as a motivation and lever to promote the safe, healthy, and sustainable development of the real estate market in the future.
2. New Provisions of the 2024 Law on Land on Land Use Conversion
Regarding land use conversion, the 2024 Law on Land and its detailed implementation documents have introduced new provisions, such as promoting decentralization and delegation, simplifying or reducing administrative procedures for land use conversion, and creating a more transparent, faster, and more efficient mechanism for land use conversion to implement investment projects in general, and real estate projects in particular.
The 2024 Law on Land specifically stipulates the conditions and authority for permitting land use conversion, including the full decentralization of authority to approve the conversion of rice-growing land and forest land (protection forest, special-use forest, production forest which is natural forest) to the Provincial People’s Council (Articles 122 and 123).
Moreover, the 2024 Law on Land amends certain provisions of the Forestry Law to unify the decentralization of the full authority to approve forest land use conversion to the Provincial People’s Council. This new provision of the 2024 Law on Land aims to simplify administrative procedures for converting rice-growing land and forest land to other purposes, thereby accelerating the progress of investment projects, including real estate projects.
The Law clearly stipulates that households and individuals using agricultural land in residential areas, agricultural land within the same plot as residential land, or non-residential non-agricultural land with a need to convert to residential land, shall have the authority to approve land use conversion based on the district-level land use planning or general planning or subdivision planning as stipulated by urban planning law approved by the competent authority, without relying on the annual district-level land use plan (Article 116).
The Law permits land users to independently implement commercial housing investment projects. Specifically, the Law stipulates that “In cases where individuals with land use rights for residential land or residential and other types of land propose a commercial housing investment project that complies with land use planning, and request to convert land use purpose which is approved by the competent state authority for investment policy and investor approval in accordance with investment law, they are allowed to use the land to implement the project” (Clause 7 Article 127).
Additionally to the new provisions on land use conversion to promote the progress of investment projects, the 2024 Law on Land also stipulates a strict control mechanism for land use conversion to prevent corruption, negativity, and the exploitation of policies for land use conversion to implement investment projects, such as:
(i) Controlling land use conversion from the land planning and land use planning stage by stipulating that district-level land use planning must specifically identify the land area permitted for conversion, including rice-growing land, protection forest land, special-use forest land, and production forest land allowed for conversion;
(ii) Controlling land use conversion from the stage of competent authorities organizing investment policy decisions, land use rights auctions, and bidding for investor selection to implement projects by stipulating that the decision to allow land use conversion must be based on the investment policy decision, land use rights auction results, and investor selection bidding results;
(iii) Fully stipulating prohibited acts, whereby the Law has added prohibitions against acts of “allowing land use conversion without proper authority, for inappropriate entities, or inconsistent with the approved district-level annual land use plan by the competent state authority”; stipulating the handling of individuals with violations in permitting land use conversion when performing official duties; and stipulating the supervision of the National Assembly, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the People’s Councils at all levels, citizens, and the responsibility for monitoring, evaluating, inspecting, and specialized inspection of land management and use, including land use conversion.
III. Conclusion
Inheriting, amending, and supplementing articles and clauses of the 2013 Law on Land, the 2024 Law on Land has supplemented new provisions from the research of legalizing land regulations in detailed implementation documents, guiding the implementation of the 2013 Law on Land and institutionalizing issues that have matured, become clear, and been piloted and practically proven to be correct and appropriate.
Therefore, the 2024 Law on Land is completed with many significant new provisions, including regulations on multi-purpose land use; supplementing and perfecting provisions on land use conversion to implement investment projects, creating a more comprehensive legal framework on land management and use to mobilize and release land resources, contributing to the efficient, economical, and sustainable management and use of land resources in the new period, meeting the requirements of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense, security, and ecological environmental protection.
This also serves as a motivation to promote the safe, healthy, and sustainable development of the real estate market as expected and desired by the State and every citizen.
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“The article’s content refers to the regulations that were applicable at the time of its creation and is intended solely for reference purposes. To obtain accurate information, it is advisable to seek the guidance of a consulting lawyer.”
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