Vietnam proposes legal land use for properties lacking certificates

Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has put forward a proposal to amend the Land Law, specifically addressing the legal status of land that has not yet been granted official land use certificates, commonly known as "red books."

The department highlighted that numerous land plots are currently managed or utilized through methods such as transfers, reclamation, or inheritance but lack formal certification. This ambiguity creates significant hurdles during investment procedures, as determining the legitimate land user for project implementation becomes problematic, leading to delays and wasted time.

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Legal land use rights for land not yet granted a certificate are lands that the land user is currently managing or using, are not lands managed by state agencies, and are not lands currently in dispute.

To streamline the process, the department suggests that land plots currently managed or used by individuals or entities, which are not under state administration and are free from disputes or complaints, should be recognized as having legal usage rights. This recognition would be contingent upon the fulfillment of all required land financial obligations.

Furthermore, the department recommended removing the phrase "currently living together" from the definition of "household using land" in the draft Land Law. They argue that the current wording could unfairly disenfranchise family members who may have had shared land use rights at the time of state allocation but no longer reside together due to various reasons. The proposed change aims to prevent the arbitrary loss of land rights for such individuals.

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The current definition of 'household using land' includes individuals who are 'currently living together' at the time the state allocates or leases land.