Has the National Assembly of Vietnam promulgated the Law on Housing 2023? What's new in the Law on Housing 2023?
Has the National Assembly of Vietnam promulgated the Law on Housing 2023?
On November 27, 2023, the National Assembly officially approved the Law on Housing 2023.
This Law provides for ownership, development, management, operation, and use of houses, trading of houses, and state management of houses in Vietnam, except for cases:
Transaction, lease purchase, leasing of residential real estates of enterprises, cooperatives, joint cooperatives engaging in real estate trading, transfer of housing purchase agreement shall conform to real estate trading laws.
Has the National Assembly of Vietnam promulgated the Law on Housing 2023? What's new in the Law on Housing 2023?
What's new in the Law on Housing 2023 in Vietnam?
The Law on Housing 2023 has the following new points:
(1) The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor acts as presiding authority of social housing investment and construction projects
Clause 4, Article 80 of the Law stipulates that the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor acts as presiding authority of social housing investment and construction projects using union funding for employees and workers eligible for renting social housing.
Clause 2, Article 84 stipulates: In respect of social housing investment and construction projects that utilize union funding, project developers shall be determined in accordance with regulations applying to public investment projects in accordance with public investment and construction laws.
Thus, the management and implementation of investment projects will be carried out by the project management unit under the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in accordance with the provisions of law on public investment.
In addition, The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor shall decide on rent of social housing invested and built using union funding (Article 86); At the same time, Clause 4, Article 89, the Government shall elaborate procedures for selling, lease-purchasing, leasing social housing. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor is the managing agency of the investment project.
(2) There is no provision for the ownership period of condominiums.
The amended law does not specify the ownership period but instead sets the period of use for condominiums based on the inheritance of the existing Housing Law.
Therefore, the new regulation has removed Article 27 of the draft submitted to the National Assembly and does not provide detailed provisions on the ownership period of condominiums. Currently, according to Article 14, Clause 6 of Decree 69/2021/ND-CP, at least 70% of the total owners of condominium units must agree, and at least 75% of them must consent to select an investor to carry out renovation or reconstruction of the condominium. In cases where the ownership period is not specified, the demolition cases will be assessed according to the provisions of the new Housing Law.
(3) Expanding the scope of public housing tenants.
Regarding the scope of tenants for public housing (Article 45), the National Assembly Standing Committee believes that in the current stage, it is reasonable to expand the scope of eligible tenants for public housing in line with the capacity of the public housing supply. In the future, when conditions permit, further expansion will be considered.
(4) Agreed upfront payment for rental-purchase of housing.
According to the new law, the tenant-buyer must make an upfront payment to the lessor-buyer at a certain percentage of the rental-purchase value as agreed, but not exceeding 50% of the rental-purchase value of the housing. In other words, the 2023 Housing Law does not limit the upfront payment percentage as stipulated in the current 2014 Housing Law, where the buyer is required to pay 20% of the rental-purchase value upfront.
(5) Annulling the requirement for social housing buyers or rental-purchasers to meet residency conditions.
Under the new Housing Law, starting from 2025, social housing buyers or rental-purchasers will not be required to meet the following conditions:
- Having permanent registration in the province or centrally-run city where the social housing is located.
- If there is no permanent registration, they must have temporary registration for at least one year in that province or city, except for students of academies, universities, colleges, vocational schools, and students of boarding ethnic minority schools who are allowed to use social housing during their study period.
However, social housing buyers or rental-purchasers under the new law will need to meet the following conditions:
[1] Housing conditions:
- They do not own a house in the province or centrally-run city where the social housing project is located.
- They have not purchased or rented a social housing unit.
- They have not received any form of housing support policy.
- They own a house, but the average living space per person is lower than the minimum living space specified by the Government for each period and region.
[2] Income conditions:
- The following individuals must meet the income conditions as prescribed by the Government:
- Low-income individuals in urban areas.
Vietnam: When does the Law on Housing 2023 come into force?
Pursuant to the provisions in Article 197 of the Law on Housing 2023 on enforcement as follows:
Entry into force
1. This Law comes into force from January 1, 2025.
2. The Law on Housing No. 65/2014/QH13 amended by the Law No. 40/2019/QH14, Law No. 61/2020/QH14, Law No. 62/2020/QH14, Law No. 64/2020/QH14, and Law No. 03/2022/QH15 expire from the effective date hereof, except for cases detailed under Point b Clause 1, Points a, c, dd, e, and g Clause 2, Clause 3, Points a, b, c, d, dd, and e Clause 5 Article 198 hereof.
3. Houses under ownership of the government mentioned under legislative documents on housing promulgated before the effective date hereof are deemed public housing.
Thus, the Law on Housing 2023 comes into force from January 1, 2025.
From January 1, 2025, the Law on Housing 2014 officially expires, except for the cases in point b clause 1, points a, c, dd, e and g clause 2, clause 3, points a, b, c , d, dd and e Clause 5, Article 198 of the Law on Housing 2023.
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