Vietnam: Land used for trading and services and 4 things you need to know

Vietnam: Land used for trading and services and 4 things you need to know

1. Is it possible to build a house on land used for trading and services?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 153 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013, regulations on land used for trading and services are as follows:

Land used for trading or services includes:

- Land used for construction of trading or service establishments

- Land used for construction of other facilities serving trading or services.

In Clause 1, Article 3 of Vietnam's Law on Housing 2014 stipulates that housing means any building in which households or individuals live.

Thus, according to regulations, housing means any building for the purpose of living and serving the daily needs of households and individuals. Therefore, housing is not allowed to build on land used for trading and services.

2. Regulations on change of land use purpose

Article 57 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013 stipulates that cases in which change of land use purpose requires permission by competent state agencies:

- Change of land for construction of non-business facilities or land for public purposes involving commercial purpose, or non-agricultural land for business and production purposes which is not land for trading or services to land for trading or services;

Change of land for trading or services or land for construction of non-commercial facilities to land for non-agricultural production establishments.

- Change of land for rice cultivation to land for perennial crops, forests, aquaculture or salt production;

- Change of land for other annual crops to land for saltwater aquaculture, salt production or aquaculture in ponds, lakes or marshlands;

- Change of land for special-use forests, protection forests or production forests to land for other purposes within the type of agricultural land;

- Change of agricultural land to non-agricultural land;

- Change of non-agricultural land which is allocated by the State without land use levy to non-agricultural land which is allocated by the State with land use levy, or to leased land;

- Change of non-agricultural land which is not residential land to residential land;

3. Cases subject to auction of land use rights and cases not subject to auction of land use rights

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 118 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013, The State shall allocate land with land use levy or lease land through auction of land use rights in the following cases, except the cases prescribed in Clause 2, Article 118 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013 is as follows:

- Investment in construction of houses for sale or for lease or for lease-purchase;

- Investment in construction of infrastructure for transfer or for lease;

- Use of land fund to create capital for infrastructure construction;

- Use of land for trading or services, and land for non-agricultural production establishments;

- Lease of land which is part of agricultural land fund for public purposes for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture or salt production;

- Allocation or lease of land expropriated by the State through rearrangement and handling of working offices, non-business establishments, or production or business establishments of which the land-attached assets are owned by the State;

- Allocation of urban and rural residential land to households or individuals;

- Allocation or lease of land in the cases eligible to land use levy or land rental reduction.

4. Land use term of land for trading and services

Land for trading or services with a long and stable term:

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 125 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013 stipulates that Land users may use land for a long and stable term of Land for trading or services, for non-agricultural production establishments of households and individuals that are using the land stably and that land is not allocated for limited term or leased by the State.

Land for trading or services with a definite term:

Clause 3, Article 126 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013 stipulates that land for trading or services has a definite term as follows:

The term for land allocation or land lease to organizations for the purpose of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture or salt production;

To organizations, households or individuals for the purpose of trading and services or for non-agricultural production establishments;

To organizations for implementing investment projects; to overseas Vietnamese and foreign-invested enterprises for implementing investment projects in Vietnam, shall be considered and decided on the basis of the investment projects or applications for land allocation or land lease, but must not exceed 50 years.

At the expiry of the term, if the land users still have land use needs, the State shall consider an extension which must not exceed the term prescribed in Clause 3, Article 126 of Vietnam's Land Law 2013.

Ngoc Nhi

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