Four draft decrees with a series of new policies have been recently unveiled by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) for public comment, in preparation for the implementation of the amended Land Law, which will come into force on July 1.
These drafts, including a decree detailing a number of articles of the Land Law; a decree on compensation, support and resettlement upon land recovery by the State; a decree on land pricing process; and a decree on sanctioning of land-related administrative violations.
One salient point in the draft decree detailing the Land Law is the provision specifying conditions on financial capacity of investors who apply for land allocation, land lease or change of land use purposes for implementation of non-agricultural production and business projects; commercial housing projects and projects involving the use of land currently managed and used by state agencies or enterprises or local administrations.
Accordingly, investors’ equity capital must account for at least 15 percent of the projects’ total investment, for projects using a land area of less than 20 ha, or 20 percent, for projects using a land area of 20 ha and more. Additionally, investors would also be required to make deposit according to the investment law.
In case land is allocated or leased through auction of land use rights, functional agencies would verify the financial capacity of investors before such auction is organized.
However, these regulations would not apply to BOT, BT and BTO projects, “socialization” projects and projects allocated with land without collection of land use levy.
Regarding policies on compensation, support and resettlement upon land recovery by the State, the MONRE proposes adding overseas Vietnamese owning houses together with land use rights in Vietnam to the group of entities eligible for compensation upon land recovery.
As for land prices, the MONRE would elaborate and submit to the Government for promulgation land price brackets once every five years. On the basis of the Government-promulgated land price brackets, local administrations would draw up price tables for paddy field land and land under other annual crops; land under perennial trees; land used for salt making; rural and urban residential land; and land for non-agricultural production and business in rural and urban areas. Provincial-level People’s Committees may also promulgate price tables for land of other categories to suit their local realities.
The MONRE also proposes increasing fines for land-related administrative violations to VND 500 million, for individual violators, and VND one billion, for institutional violators. The specific fine for each violation would be based on the level of consequences of such violations, which would be determined based on the value of the rights to use the land plot involved in the violation.
In addition to fines, violators would also be required to take remedial measures such as restoring the original state and dismantling works or work items built without or at variance with construction permits.-
