Circular No. 19/2016/TT-BXD dated June 30, 2016 of the Ministry of Construction guiding the implementation of a number of the Law on Housing and Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP of the Government

CIRCULAR

Guiding some contents of the Housing Law and the Government’s Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP of October 20, 2015, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Housing Law[1]

Pursuant to the November 25, 2014 Housing Law;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP of October 20, 2015, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Housing Law;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 62/2013/ND-CP of June 25, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

At the proposal of the Director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency;

The Minister of Construction promulgates the Circular guiding some contents of the Housing Law and the Government’s Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP of October 20, 2015, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Housing Law.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

1. This Circular guides the implementation of contents on housing development, housing management and use, housing transactions, house ownership and state management of housing prescribed in Housing Law No. 65/2014/QH13 (below referred to as the Housing Law) and the Government’s Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP of October 20, 2015, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Housing Law (below referred to as Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP).

2. The development of social houses; and management and use of social houses not owned by the State are not regulated by this Circular.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Domestic organizations, households and individuals, overseas Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals involved in housing development, housing management and use, housing transactions and house ownership in Vietnam.

2. Housing-related state management agencies.

Article 3. Formulation of local housing development programs and plans

1. People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (below referred to as provincial-level People’s Committees) shall allocate local budget funds for formulating their local housing development programs and plans in accordance with the Housing Law, Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP and this Circular.

2. The funds for formulating a housing development program or plan prescribed in this Article cover the costs for formulating, appraising, managing and announcing the program or plan, but do not include value-added tax and the cost for selecting consultancy units for the program’s or plan’s formulation as prescribed.

3. The funds for formulating a local housing development program shall be determined according to the following formula:

C_T = C₁ + C₂

In which:

C_T is the total cost for formulating, appraising, managing and announcing a housing development program.

C₁ is the total cost for formulating a housing development program, determined as follows:

C₁ = C_standard x H₁ x H₂ x K

In which:

C_standard of 400 (VND million) is the cost for formulating a housing development program of a standard locality (a locality supposed to have an area of 1,000 km²); this cost is for making the contents of a local housing development program prescribed in Clause 2, Article 3 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

H₁ is the coefficient of working conditions and socio-economic development level of the locality formulating the program, which is provided in Table 02, Appendix No. 01 to this Circular.

H₂ is the coefficient of natural area of the locality formulating the program, which is provided in Table 03, Appendix No. 01 to this Circular.

K is the coefficient of adjustment of the consumer price level. At the time of promulgating this Circular, K is 1; in case the consumer price level is adjusted as announced by a competent authority, coefficient K shall be determined as follows:

K = 0.5 x (1 + K₁), in which K₁ is the coefficient of adjustment of the consumer price level and determined by dividing the consumer price index issued by the State at the time of making the cost estimates by the consumer price index at the time of promulgating this Circular.

C₂ is the total cost for appraising, managing and announcing the program, calculated as equal to 15.6% of C₁, in which specific costs shall be determined in percentage according to the guidance in Table 01, Appendix No. 01 to this Circular.

4. The funds for studying the modification or supplementation of a local housing development program shall be determined on the basis of the contents to be modified or supplemented, but must not exceed 60% of the total funds for formulating the housing development program prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

Norms of specific costs for modifying and supplementing a housing development program shall be determined in percentage according to the guidance in Table 01, Appendix No. 01 to this Circular.

5. The funds for formulating a local housing development plan shall be determined as follows:

a/ The funds for formulating a five-year housing development plan and the plan for the first year of the period must not exceed 50% of the total funds for formulating a housing development program determined at the time of cost estimation;

b/ The funds for formulating an annual housing development plan (except the plan for the first year of the period) must not exceed 20% of the total funds for formulating a housing development program determined at the time of cost estimation.

Chapter II

HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

Section 1

PROVISIONS ON HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

Article 4. Order and procedures for proposing the Prime Minister to approve investment policy for a housing construction project

The order and procedures for proposing the Prime Minister to approve the investment policy for a housing construction project prescribed in Clause 4, Article 9 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP are as follows:

1. In case the investor has not been identified:

a/ The provincial-level Construction Department of the locality having the project shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, making 1 set of dossier as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP and a report according to the form in Appendix No. 02 to this Circular, and send them to the provincial-level People’s Committee for submission to the Ministry of Construction for appraisal; the dossier’s contents relating to planning and planning drawings must comply with the law on construction planning and urban planning. The form of the report to the Ministry of Construction for appraisal is provided in Appendix No. 03 to this Circular;

b/ The Ministry of Construction shall conduct appraisal and submit a report, made according to the form in Appendix No. 04 to this Circular, to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval of the investment policy for the project in accordance with Point a, Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

2. In case the investor has been identified:

a/ The investor shall submit 1 set of dossier as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP to the provincial-level Construction Department of the locality having the project; the dossier’s contents relating to planning and planning drawings must comply with the law on construction planning and urban planning;

b/ Within 3 working days after receiving a complete dossier of request for investment policy approval, the provincial-level Construction Department shall send a dossier of the project to related state agencies for opinion. Within 15 days after receiving the dossier, consulted agencies shall issue a written reply on the project’s contents under their state management to the provincial-level Construction Department;

c/ Within 25 days after receiving a complete dossier of request for investment policy approval, the provincial-level Construction Department shall submit a report together with this dossier to the provincial-level People’s Committee for proposing the Ministry of Construction to appraise the dossier. The form of the report to the Ministry of Construction is provided in Appendix No. 03 to this Circular;

d/ The Ministry of Construction shall conduct appraisal and submit a report, made according to the form in Appendix No. 04 to this Circular, to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval of the investment policy for the project in accordance with Point a, Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

Article 5. Order and procedures for proposing the provincial-level People’s Committee to approve investment policy for a housing construction project

1. The order and procedures for proposing the provincial-level People’s Committee to approve the investment policy for a housing construction project prescribed in Clause 5, Article 9 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP are as follows:

a/ In case the investor has not been identified:

- The provincial-level Construction Department shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related state agencies in, making 1 set of dossier as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, and submit it to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consulting the provincial-level People’s Council; the dossier’s contents relating to planning and planning drawings must comply with the law on construction planning and urban planning;

- Within 7 working days after receiving opinions of the provincial-level People’s Council, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a written approval of the investment policy for the project according to the form in Appendix No. 05 to this Circular; in case of disapproval, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason to the provincial-level Construction Department.

b/ In case the investor has been identified:

- The investor shall submit 1 set of dossier as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP to the provincial-level Construction Department of the locality having the project; the dossier’s contents relating to planning and planning drawings must comply with the law on construction planning and urban planning;

- Within 3 working days after receiving a complete dossier of request for investment policy approval, the provincial-level Construction Department shall send a dossier of the project to related state agencies for opinion. Within 15 days after receiving the dossier, consulted agencies shall issue a written reply on the project’s contents under their state management to the provincial-level Construction Department;

- Within 25 days after receiving a complete dossier of request for investment policy approval, the provincial-level Construction Department shall submit a report to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consulting the provincial-level People’s Council.

- Within 7 working days after obtaining approval from the provincial-level People’s Council, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a written approval of the investment policy for the project according to the form in Appendix No. 05 to this Circular; in case of disapproval, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason to the provincial-level Construction Department and the investor.

2. The order and procedures for proposing the provincial-level People’s Committee to approve investment policy for a housing construction project prescribed in Clause 6, Article 9 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP are as follows:

a/ In case the investor has not been identified:

- The provincial-level Construction Department shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related state agencies in, making 1 set of dossier as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, and submit it to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consideration and approval of the investment policy for the project; the dossier’s contents relating to planning and planning drawings must comply with the law on construction planning and urban planning;

- Within 7 working days after receiving the provincial-level Construction Department’s report together with the dossier of request for investment policy approval for a project, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a written approval of the investment policy for the project according to the form in Appendix No. 05 to this Circular; in case of disapproval, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason to the provincial-level Construction Department.

b/ In case the investor has been identified:

- The investor shall submit 1 set of dossier as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP to the provincial-level Construction Department of the locality having the project; the dossier’s contents relating to planning and planning drawings must comply with the law on construction planning and urban planning;

- Within 3 working days after receiving a complete dossier of request for investment policy approval, the provincial-level Construction Department shall send a dossier of the project to related state agencies for opinion. Within 15 days after receiving the dossier, consulted agencies shall issue a written reply on the project’s contents under their state management to the provincial-level Construction Department;

- Within 25 days after receiving a complete dossier of request for investment policy approval, the provincial-level Construction Department shall submit a report together with the dossier to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consideration and approval of the investment policy for the project;

- Within 7 working days after receiving the provincial-level Construction Department’s report together with the dossier of request for investment policy approval for the project, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a written approval of the investment policy for the project according to the form in Appendix No. 05 to this Circular; in case of disapproval, it shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason to the provincial-level Construction Department and the investor.

Article 6. Housing state management agencies’ appraisal of housing construction projects prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 9 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP

1. The agency taking charge of the appraisal shall send a written request together with the dossier of request for investment policy decision to the Ministry of Construction and the provincial-level Construction Department for appraisal of housing-related contents.

2. The contents to be appraised include:

a/ Necessity to implement the housing construction investment project;

b/ Rates and numbers of houses by type calculated by dwelling unit (condominium apartment, villa, individual house); total housing construction floor area;

c/ Construction of technical infrastructure, social infrastructure, public parking area and parking area for households and individuals living in the project area;

d/ Land area reserved for construction of social houses and houses for lease as prescribed by the Housing Law, plan on management or plan on transfer to the locality for management of the project’s technical infrastructure after completion of construction investment;

dd/ Responsibilities of local administrations and the project owner for implementing the project and building its social infrastructure, except in case social infrastructure is already available in the project site.

Article 7. Legal dossiers of registration as commercial housing construction project owners

1. A legal dossier of registration as a commercial housing construction project owner must comprise:

a/ The investor’s written registration to act as the project owner, which shows the investor’s name, address and proposals, and tentative schedule for the project implementation;

b/ A certified copy or a copy together with the original for comparison of the enterprise registration certificate or investment registration certificate, and papers proving the sufficient capital amount for doing real estate business (charter capital) as prescribed by the law on real estate business;

c/ Papers proving the project owner’s financial capacity as prescribed at Point d, Clause 2, Article 12 of the Government’s Decree No. 76/2015/ND-CP of September 10, 2015, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Real Estate Business.

2. In case of project owner assignment as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, in addition to the papers prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the investor must have a paper proving its lawful residential land use rights as prescribed by the land law.

Article 8. Order and procedures for selecting commercial housing construction project owners

1. The order and procedures for selecting the project owner for the case prescribed at Point a, Clause 1, Article 18 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP are as follows:

a/ The order and procedures for auctioning land use rights must comply with the auction and land laws;

b/ In case the agency approving the auction result is the provincial-level People’s Committee, the written approval of the auction result must cover the recognition of the auction winner as the owner of the housing construction project; 1 copy of this approval shall be sent to the provincial-level Construction Department for monitoring and summarization;

c/ In case the agency approving the auction result is not the provincial-level People’s Committee, this agency shall send a written request together with the auction result and the legal dossier of the auction winner to the provincial-level People’s Committee for recognition as the housing construction project owner. Within 5 working days after receiving a written request from the agency approving the auction result, the auction result and the legal dossier of the auction winner, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a document recognizing the auction winner as the housing construction project owner; 1 copy of this document shall be sent to the provincial-level Construction Department for monitoring and summarization.

2. For the selection of the project owner prescribed at Point b, Clause 1, Article 18 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, the provincial-level Construction Department shall assume the prime responsibility for selecting the project owner in accordance with the bidding law and send a written proposal to the provincial-level People’s Committee for recognition of the project owner according to the form in Appendix No. 06 to this Circular.

3. For an investor eligible for being assigned to act as the project owner as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, the order of assignment is as follows:

a/ The investor submits 1 dossier set prescribed in Article 7 of this Circular to the provincial-level Construction Department of the locality having the project;

b/ After receiving the dossier, the provincial-level Construction Department shall hold a meeting of the expert team (prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article) to consider and assess the investor’s capacity. If the investor is qualified to act as the project owner, the provincial-level Construction Department shall send a written request together with the minutes of the meeting and the investor’s legal dossier to the provincial-level People’s Committee for recognizing the investor as the project owner, made according to the form in Appendix No. 06 to this Circular. If the investor is unqualified to act as the project owner, the provincial-level Construction Department shall issue a notice clearly stating the reason to the investor.

4. The provincial-level People’s Committee shall decide on the formation of an expert team to consider and assess the capacity dossier of the investor in case of selecting the project owner in the form prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article. The team shall be composed of representatives of the provincial-level Departments of Construction; Natural Resources and Environment; Planning and Investment; Finance; and Planning and Architecture (for centrally run cities having Planning and Architecture Departments), with the provincial-level Construction Department acting as the standing body.

Article 9. Fund raising for commercial housing development

1. The raising of funds by collecting advance payments from house purchasers or lessees-purchasers under contracts on purchase and sale or rent-purchase of future houses prescribed in Clause 3, Article 69 of the Housing Law must comply with Point b, Clause 2, Article 19 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

Conditions on future houses for sale or lease-purchase must comply with Clause 1, Article 55 of the Law on Real Estate Business. The construction of the foundation of a housing work (including housing works for multiple-use purposes) shall be regarded as being completed when the construction of pile caps and ground tie-beams or construction up to the height of the floor of the lowest story of that housing work is completed.

In case the project owner applies the top-down construction method (construction of floors of upper stories of the housing work prior to construction of the pile caps and ground tie-beams or of the floor of the lowest story of the work) according to the approved design of the construction drawing, completion of construction of the first floor of the work shall be regarded as equivalent to completion of construction of the foundation in the case of construction by the ordinary method.

2. A dossier of request for notice of eligibility to raise funds as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 19 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, which is submitted to the provincial-level Construction Department, must comprise:

a/ A written request for notice of eligibility to raise funds;

b/ A certified copy of the decision on the investment policy or written approval of the investment policy for the project issued by a competent state agency; decision approving the housing construction investment project together with the project dossier as prescribed by the construction and housing laws;

c/ A competent state agency’s written certification of completion of the ground clearance according to the approved project implementation schedule as prescribed by the land law;

d/ A certified copy of the record of handover of the project boundary markers according to the approved project implementation schedule as prescribed by the land law.

3. A contract on capital contribution, investment cooperation or business cooperation prescribed in Clause 3, Article 19 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP must have the following principal contents:

a/ Names and addresses of contracting parties;

b/ Form of fund raising;

c/ Amount of funds to be raised; fund raising periods;

d/ Mode of profit sharing;

dd/ Deadline for fund repayment;

e/ Rights and obligations of parties;

g/ Dispute settlement;

h/ Other agreements.

4. In case of capital contribution for establishing a new legal person to be assigned to act as the housing construction project owner, the contract on capital contribution, investment cooperation or business cooperation shall be made in accordance with the investment law and relevant laws.

Section 2

OFFICIAL-DUTY HOUSE DEVELOPMENT

Article 10. Order and procedures for identifying demands for official-duty houses and approving official-duty house development plans

1. The order and procedures for identifying demands for official-duty houses and approving official-duty house development plans of central agencies (except official-duty houses of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security) are as follows:

a/ Central agencies shall review, make statistics of, and identify the demands for official-duty houses every five years and annually according to the form provided in Appendix No. 07 to this Circular and send them to the Ministry of Construction for appraisal. Five-year (2016-2020) official-duty house development plans shall be sent to the Ministry of Construction before September 30, 2016; plans for the subsequent five-year periods shall be sent before October 31 of the year preceding the planning period; annual official-duty house development plans shall be sent before October 31 of the year preceding the planning year. The Ministry of Construction shall complete its appraisal within 60 days after receiving central agencies’ proposed demands for official-duty houses;

b/ On the basis of summarizing central agencies’ appraised demands for official-duty houses, the Ministry of Construction shall make a plan on official-duty house development for central agencies and report it to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval; after having this plan approved by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Construction shall send it to related agencies for implementation.

2. The order and procedures for identifying demands for official-duty houses and approving official-duty house development plans of the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security are as follows:

a/ The Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security shall review its demand for official-duty houses and make and send its official-duty house development plan to the Ministry of Construction for comment and agreement before submitting it to the Prime Minister;

b/ After getting the Ministry of Construction’s agreement, the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security shall finalize its plan and submit it to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval. After obtaining the Prime Minister’s approval, the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security shall implement this plan and send it to the Ministry of Construction for summarization and monitoring.

3. The order and procedures for identifying demands for official-duty houses and approving local official-duty house development plans are as follows:

a/ The provincial-level Construction Department shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies and People’s Committees of urban districts, rural districts, towns and provincial cities (below referred to as district-level People’s Committees) in, reviewing and identifying local demands for official-duty houses according the form in Appendix No. 07 to this Circular. On the basis of summarizing agencies’ demands for official-duty houses, the provincial-level Construction Department shall make five-year and annual plans on official-duty house development of the locality and submit them to the provincial-level People’s Committee for approval. Official-duty house development plans may be made separately or incorporated in five-year and annual local housing development plans;

b/ The provincial-level People’s Committee shall consider, approve and direct the implementation of local official-duty house development plans and concurrently send these plans, made according to the form in Appendix No. 07a to this Circular, to the Ministry of Construction for summarization and monitoring.

Article 11. Dossier and process of selection of real estate businesses as official-duty house construction project owners

1. A real estate business’s dossier of registration for acting as the owner of an official-duty house construction project must comprise the papers prescribed in Article 7 of this Circular and the law on public-private partnership investment.

2. The selection of a real estate business prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article to act as the owner of an official-duty house construction project must comply with the law on public-private partnership investment and related laws.

Chapter III

MANAGEMENT AND USE OF STATE-OWNED HOUSES

Section 1

MANAGEMENT AND USE OF STATE-OWNED HOUSES FOR RESETTLEMENT

Article 12. Forms of application for and contract on purchase and sale, rent, and rent-purchase of houses for resettlement

1. The form of application for purchase, rent or rent-purchase of a house for resettlement is provided in Appendix No. 08 to this Circular. The form of contract on purchase and sale, rent or rent-purchase of a house for resettlement is provided in Appendix No. 19, 20 or 21 to this Circular.

2. A contract on rent of a house for resettlement must have a term of at least 3 years (unless otherwise agreed by parties). After its term expires, a contract may be extended for 3 years at most if the lessee wishes to continue the rent.

3. A contract on rent-purchase of a house for resettlement must have a term of at least 5 years.

Article 13. Method of determining the rates of rental or rental for purchase of houses for resettlement

1. The costs constituting the rate of rental or rental for purchase of a house for resettlement must include the cost of housing construction investment; the land use levy or land rental; the maintenance cost (applicable to house rent only) and value-added tax.

2. Formula for determining the rate of rental or rental for purchase of a house for resettlement:

In which:

a/ G_t is the rate of rental or rental for purchase of 1 m² of housing area in use for 1 month (VND/m²/month).

b/ V_đ is the entire pre-tax reasonable expense for investment in the housing work’s construction (including also costs allocated to the work) as prescribed by the law on work construction investment management, which is annually allocated to 1 m² of housing area in use in accordance with the principle of capital preservation. When determining V_đ in case of rent-purchase, the initial payment as agreed under the contract shall be deducted.

Depending on the form of investment, the basis for determining V_đ is as follows:

- In case the State directly invests in the construction of houses for resettlement with state funds as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 36 of the Housing Law or uses social houses for resettlement: V_đ shall be determined based on the finalized value of the investment capital approved by a competent state agency; in case such finalized value has not been approved, V_đ shall be determined based on the work construction investment cost in the total construction investment amount approved by a competent agency.

- In case the State invests in the construction of houses for resettlement in the form of build-transfer (BT): V_đ shall be determined based on the price or finalized value of the signed BT contract.

- In case the State purchases commercial houses for use as houses for resettlement: V_đ shall be determined based on the commercial house purchase price under the purchase and sale contract signed with the owner of the commercial housing construction project.

c/ V_sdđ is the land use levy or the land rental annually allocated to 1 m² of housing area in use as prescribed by the land law.

- In case the State directly invests in the construction of houses for resettlement with state funds as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 36 of the Housing Law or uses social houses for resettlement, or invests in the construction of houses for resettlement in BT form and the price or finalized value of the signed BT contract does not include the land use levy,  V_sdđ shall be determined based on the land price bracket issued by the provincial-level People’s Committee in accordance with the land law;

- In case the State purchases commercial houses for use as houses for resettlement or invests in the construction of houses for resettlement in BT form and the price or finalized value of the signed BT contract includes the land use levy,  V_sdđ must equal 0;

d/ B_t is the annual average maintenance cost allocated to 1 m² of housing area in use. For house rent-purchase, the maintenance cost shall be excluded (B_t =VND 0); the house lessee-purchaser shall pay the maintenance cost in accordance with Article 108 of the Housing Law.

dd/ K is the coefficient of story for adjustment of the rate of rental or rental for purchase of apartments determined in accordance with the weighted average principle, ensuring the total of coefficients of stories of a housing unit equal to 1.

e/ GTGT is the value-added tax determined in accordance with the tax law.

g/ 12 is the number of months in 1 year.

3. The rate of rental or rental for purchase in the formula prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article does not include the management and operation cost. House lesses or lessees-purchasers shall pay this cost directly to the house management and operation unit under regulations.

Section 2

MANAGEMENT AND USE OF STATE-OWNED SOCIAL HOUSES

Article 14. Papers proving eligibility and conditions for rent and rent-purchase of state-owned social houses

A person who wishes to rent or rent-purchase a state-owned social house shall make an application according to the form in Appendix No. 09 to this Circular and must have the following papers:

1. Papers proving eligibility and the actual housing condition:

a/ For persons prescribed in Clause 1, Article 49 of the Housing Law, the certificate made according to the form in Appendix No. 13 to this Circular;

b/ For persons prescribed in Clauses 4, 5, 6 and 7, Article 49 of the Housing Law, the certificate made according to the form in Appendix No. 14 to this Circular;

c/ For persons prescribed in Clause 8, Article 49 of the Housing Law, the certificate made according to the form in Appendix No. 15 to this Circular;

d/ For persons prescribed in Clause 10, Article 49 of the Housing Law, the certificate made according to the form in Appendix No. 16 to this Circular.

2. Papers proving the residence condition and participation in social insurance:

a/ For persons who have a registered permanent residence in the province or centrally run city having social houses for lease or lease-purchase, a certified copy of the household registration book or collective residence registration certificate in that locality;

b/ For persons who do not have a registered permanent residence as prescribed at Point a of this Clause, the following papers are required:

- A certified copy of the registration certificate of temporary residence of at least 1 year;

- A labor contract with a term of at least 1 year counting to the time of submitting the application, enclosed with the insurance agency’s certificate of payment of social insurance premiums in the province or centrally run city having social houses for lease or lease-purchase; for those working at branches or representative offices based in the province or centrally run city having social houses but paying social insurance premiums in another locality where the head office is based, a certificate of payment of insurance premiums issued by the agency or unit of the locality where the head office is based.

3. Papers proving the income condition:

a/ For persons prescribed in Clauses 5, 6 and 7, Article 49 of the Housing Law, certification of the income condition shall be made concurrently with certification of eligibility and the actual housing condition according to the form in Appendix No. 14 to this Circular; for persons having been certified in terms of their eligibility and actual housing condition to enjoy the social housing support policy before the effective date of this Circular but not having been certified in terms of their income condition, the certificate of the income condition shall be added, made according to the form in Appendix No. 17 to this Circular;

b/ Persons prescribed in Clause 4, Article 49 of the Housing Law and persons prescribed in Clauses 5, 6 and 7, Article 49 of the Housing Law who have quit jobs or retired under regulations shall declare their incomes according to the form in Appendix No. 18 to this Circular  (without certification) and take responsibility for their declaration; for persons having been certified in terms of their eligibility and actual housing condition to enjoy the social housing support policy before the effective date of this Circular but not having been certified in terms of their income condition or not having declared their income, the self-declaration of the income condition prescribed at this Point shall be added;

c/ Papers proving the income condition are not required for persons prescribed in Clauses 1, 8, 9 and 10, Article 49 of the Housing Law.

Article 15. Papers proving eligibility for exemption from and reduction of rentals of state-owned social houses

Papers proving eligibility for exemption from and reduction of rentals of state-owned social houses are the same as those required for persons eligible for exemption from and reduction of rentals of state-owned old houses prescribed in Article 23 of this Circular.

Article 16. Principles and criteria for approval of persons eligible to rent or rent-purchase state-owned social houses

1. The selection of persons eligible to rent or rent-purchase state-owned social houses must comply with Articles 49 and 51 of the Housing Law and Article 14 of this Circular. In case the social housing fund is insufficient for all eligible persons registering for rent or rent-purchase, the selection shall be based on the scoring method using a 100-point scale prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article. Persons with higher total scores will be prioritized to rent or rent-purchase state-owned social houses.

2. The scoring scale shall be determined based on specific criteria below:

3. On the basis of the scoring principles and scale prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the agency representing the house owner or the house management agency (if authorized) shall set specific criteria for selection of persons eligible for rent or rent-purchase of state-owned social houses under their management.

4. The house management agency may set up a dossier approval council (composed of representatives of related local agencies, departments, sectors and mass organizations) or directly consider and approve dossiers of rent or rent-purchase of houses, ensuring publicity, transparency, proper subjects and compliance with the principles and criteria prescribed in this Article.

5. The form of contract on rent or rent-purchase of a state-owned social house is provided in Appendix No. 20 or 21 to this Circular.

Article 17. Method of determining the rates of rental or rental for purchase of state-owned social houses

1. The costs constituting the rate of rental or rental for purchase of a state-owned social house must comply with Clause 1, Article 55 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, including the cost of housing construction investment, the maintenance cost (applicable to house rent only) and value-added tax, and excluding the land use levy, land rental and management and operation cost.

For state-owned social houses for lease to pupils and students, the determination of the rates must comply with Section 3 of this Chapter.

2. Formula for determining the rate of rental or rental for purchase of a state-owned social house:

In which:

a/ G_t is the rate of rental or rental for purchase of 1 m² of housing area in use for 1 month (VND/m²/month).

b/ V_đ is the entire pre-tax reasonable expense for investment in the social housing work construction (including costs allocated to the social housing work) as prescribed by the law on work construction investment management, which is annually allocated to 1 m² of housing area in use in accordance with the principle of capital preservation. When determining V_đ in the case of rent-purchase, the initial payment under the contract shall be deducted.

Depending on the form of investment prescribed in Clause 1, Article 53 of the Housing Law, the basis for determining V_đ is as follows:

- In case the State directly invests in the construction of social houses with state funds prescribed in Clause 1, Article 53 of the Housing Law: V_đ shall be determined based on the finalized value of the investment capital approved by a competent state agency; in case such value has not been approved, V_đ shall be determined based on the work construction investment cost included in the total construction investment amount approved by a competent state agency.

- In case the State invests in the construction of social houses in BT form: V_đ shall be determined based on the price or finalized value of the signed BT contract; in case the price or finalized value of the signed BT contract has included the land use levy, the land use levy shall be deducted when determining V_đ.

c/ B_t is the annual average maintenance cost allocated to 1 m² of housing area in use. For social house rent-purchase, the maintenance cost shall not be included (B_t = VND 0); the lessee-purchaser of a social house shall pay the maintenance cost in accordance with Article 108 of the Housing Law.

d/ K is the coefficient of story for adjustment of the rate of rental or rental for purchase for apartments determined in accordance with the weighted average principle, ensuring the total of coefficients of stories of a housing block equal to 1.

dd/ GTGT is the value-added tax determined in accordance with the tax law.

g/ 12 is the number of months in 1 year.

3. Pursuant to Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the housing state management agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the finance management agency of the same level in, elaborating and proposing the owner-representing agency to adopt the rates of rental and rental for purchase of state-owned social houses for application to houses currently under their management.

Section 3

MANAGEMENT AND USE OF STATE-OWNED SOCIAL HOUSES FOR LEASE TO PUPILS AND STUDENTS

Article 18. Order and procedures for lease of state-owned social houses to pupils and students

1. State-owned social houses for lease to pupils and students (below collectively referred to as students) prescribed in this Section shall be collectively referred to as student houses. The period of rent of student houses shall be determined based on students’ demands, but must be at least 1 year and must not exceed the period of their study at educational or training institutions.

2. For student houses constructed with the State’s funds from June 10, 2009 (the effective date of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 65/2009/QD-TTg of April 24, 2009, promulgating mechanisms and policies for development of houses for lease to students of universities, colleges, professional secondary schools and vocational schools), the order and procedures are as follows:

a/ A student wishing to rent a house shall submit a house rent application made according to the form in Appendix No. 10 to this Circular, together with copies of papers proving his/her eligibility for priority (if any), to:

- The educational or training institution where he/she is studying; this institution shall receive and examine the application, make a list of applying students and send it to the unit managing and operating student houses for consideration and decision; or

- To the unit managing and operating student houses for consideration and decision after having his/her application certified by his/her educational or training institution.

b/ On the basis of the list of students applying for house rent, the unit managing and operating student houses shall check and, based on the number of available houses, decide on students eligible for rent according to the order of priority prescribed in Clause 1, Article 52 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP;

c/ The lease of student houses prescribed in this Clause shall be settled within 30 days after the unit managing and operating student houses receives applications the student list and other papers of students (if any).

In case a student is ineligible to rent a house or the educational or training institution or the unit managing and operating student houses does not have sufficient houses for lease to the student, the latter shall issue a notice clearly stating the reason to the student.

3. For student houses constructed with the State’s funds before June 10, 2009, and which are assigned to educational or training institutions for management, based on the practical condition, the educational or training institutions shall decide on lease of and manage student houses according to their competence.

Article 19. Principles of determination of rental rates of student houses

1. Pursuant to this Article and Article 20 of this Circular, the agency managing student houses (for student houses managed by ministries, sectors or central agencies) or the provincial-level Construction Department (for student houses managed by provincial-level People’s Committees) shall set rental rates of student houses under its management as assigned and submit them to the owner-representing agency for consideration and decision on the principles prescribed in Clause 1, Article 55 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP; the agency representing the owner of student houses may authorize the agency managing student houses to decide on rental rates of student houses.

2. Revenues from the lease of student houses and commercial provision of services in student houses shall be accounted and spent in accordance with law; revenues from commercial provision of services (if any), after deducting business expenses, shall be used to pay management, operation and maintenance costs to reduce student house rentals.

Article 20. Method of determining rental rates of student houses

1. The rental rate of a student house shall be determined on the principle of covering all costs of management, operation and maintenance, excluding the cost of construction investment capital retrieval, land use levy and land rental.

2. Formula for determining the rental rate of a student house:

In which:

- G_t is the rental rate of 1m² of student house for 1 month (VND/m²/month).

- Q_l is the annual house management and operation cost allocated to 1 m² of housing area in use (VND/year).

 - B_t is the annual average maintenance cost allocated to 1 m² of  house (VND/year).

- T_dv is revenues from the commercial provision of services for offsetting the house rent cost such as vehicle keeping, canteen and other revenues (if any) (VND/year).

- S is the total area of leased house (m²)

 - K is the coefficient of story for adjustment of the rate of rental or rental for purchase for apartments determined in accordance with the weighted average principle, ensuring the total of coefficients of stories of a housing block equal to 1.

- 10 is the number of months of a student’s house rent in 1 year.

Article 21. Management and operation of student houses

1. The owner-representing agency shall select or authorize the house management agency to select a unit to manage and operate student houses. For maintenance, upgrading or re-building of a student house, the house management and operation unit shall report on the plan to maintain, upgrade or re-build that house to the owner-representing agency for consideration and approval.

2. A student house quarter must have a self-management board which shall be annually elected by the conference of students in that quarter and recognized under a decision by the unit managing and operating student houses to perform the rights and responsibilities prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article. This board must comprise 5-7 members, including representatives of house lessees, and representatives of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Students Association recommended by the training institutions among house lessees.

3. A self-management board for student houses has the following rights and responsibilities:

a/ To disseminate and mobilize students to observe the house use rules  issued by the unit managing and operating student houses; to prevent and promptly report on violations in the student house quarter to the management and operation unit for taking handling measures;

b/ To organize activities to keep the environmental sanitation and cultural, physical training and sports activities in the student house quarter;

c/ To monthly report to the management and operation unit on the house use and students’ proposals and recommendations related to the management and operation of student houses.

Section 4

LEASE OF STATE-OWNED OLD HOUSES

Article 22. Forms of application for and contract on rent of state-owned old house

1. The form of application is provided in Appendix No. 11 to this Circular.

2. The form of contract is provided in Appendix No. 20 to this Circular.

Article 23. Papers proving eligibility for exemption from or reduction of rentals of state-owned old houses

1. For persons with meritorious services to the revolution, there must be papers proving their meritorious services to the revolution issued by a competent agency in accordance with the law on persons with meritorious services to the revolution.

2. For persons with disabilities or lonely elderly persons, there must be a certificate issued by a competent agency as prescribed by the law on persons with disabilities or support policy for social security beneficiaries.

3. For poor households or households close to the poverty line in urban areas, there must be a certificate issued by the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where that person has a registered permanent residence or a temporary residence of 1 year or longer.

Section 5

SALE OF STATE-OWNED OLD HOUSES

Article 24. Order and procedures for purchase and sale of state-owned old houses

1. The buyer of an old house shall make 1 dossier of request for house purchase as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 69 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP. The order and procedures for purchase and sale of old houses must comply with Clause 2, Article 69 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

2. The form of application for purchase of state-owned old house is provided in Appendix No. 12 to this Circular.

3. The form of contract on purchase and sale of state-owned old house is provided in Appendix No. 22 to this Circular.

Article 25. Sale prices of state-owned old houses which have been upgraded or rebuilt by the State

For a state-owned old house which has been upgraded or rebuilt by the State, the sale price of old house prescribed in Article 65 or 70 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP shall be applied to the area stated in the house rent contract before the upgrading or rebuilding; for the expanded house area after upgrading or rebuilding by the State (if any), the sale price shall be determined in accordance with the principle of construction investment capital retrieval.

Article 26. Method of determining residual value and coefficient for adjustment of use value upon sale of state-owned old houses

1. The method of determining the residual value of a state-owned old house sold to the current lessee as prescribed in this Circular must comply with Joint Circular No. 13/LB-TT of August 18, 1994, of the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance and the Government’s Pricing Committee, guiding the method of determining residual value of state-owned houses upon sale to lessees.

2. The grading of old houses and the method of measuring the area of state-owned old houses as the basis for determining the sale price must comply with the Construction Ministry’s Circular No. 05-BXD/DT of February 9, 1993, guiding methods of measuring use areas and grading houses.

3. The coefficient for adjustment of the use value of state-owned old houses is prescribed as follows:

a/ The coefficient for adjustment of the use value of houses outside the category prescribed at Point b of this Clause is prescribed as follows:

- Coefficient 1.2 applies to 1^st floor and one-story houses

- Coefficient 1.1 applies to 2^nd floor

- Coefficient 1.0 applies to 3^rd floor

- Coefficient 0.9 applies to 4^th floor

- Coefficient 0.8 applies to 5^th floor

- Coefficient 0.7 applies to 6^th floor and higher floors

b/ The coefficient for adjustment of the use value of apartment-structured houses in multi-story and multi-apartment buildings shall be determined as follows:

- Coefficient 1.0 applies to 1st floor

- Coefficient 0.8 applies to 2^nd  floor

- Coefficient 0.7 applies to 3^rd floor

- Coefficient 0.6 applies to 4^th floor

- Coefficient 0.5 applies to 5^th floor

- Coefficient 0.4 applies to 6^th floor and higher floors

c/ Coefficients of floors upon transfer of land use rights shall be determined as follows:

For individual houses having a mezzanine area, coefficient 0.7 shall be applied for calculating floor coefficients when determining the land prices upon transfer of land use rights to buyers.

For sale of self-contained apartments of a state-owned old condominium, coefficient 1.4 shall be applied to the land use levy distributed to each apartment; this coefficient shall not be applied to street house-style multi-story and multi-apartment buildings.

Article 27. Papers proving eligibility for exemption from or reduction of and levels of exemption from and reduction of payable amounts for purchase of state-owned old houses

1. For house buyers eligible for exemption from or reduction of the land use levy prescribed in Clause 1, Article 67 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, there must be papers similar to those required for the case of exemption from or reduction of rentals of state-owned old houses prescribed in Article 23 of this Circular.

2. For house buyers eligible for reduction of payable amounts for house purchase prescribed in Clause 2, Article 67 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, one of the following papers is required:

a/ Certificate of number of working years issued by the current employer of the house buyer;

b/ District-level social insurance agency’s certificate, if the house buyer is on pension or on working capacity loss, occupational disease or sectoral or occupational allowance as prescribed by law;

c/ Certified copy of the decision on job quitting on lump-sum social insurance allowance or lay-off allowance before and after the promulgation of the Ministerial Council’s Decision No. 111/HDBT of April 12, 1991, or before or after the promulgation of the 1995 Labor Code, or on allowance for discharge from the army or demobilization; in case the decision on job quitting on allowance is lost, declaration of the entire working period certified by the old employer is required;

d/ Papers proving eligibility prescribed in Article 23 of this Circular, for persons with meritorious services to the revolution, poor households, households close to the poverty line, persons with disabilities, lonely elderly persons and persons with exceptional housing difficulties in urban areas.

3. The level of exemption from and reduction of the land use levy upon purchase of state-owned old houses must comply with the following provisions:

a/ For house buyers being persons with meritorious services to the revolution, the land use levy shall be exempted or reduced for specific categories of persons defined in the following decisions:

- The Prime Minister’s Decision No. 118/TTg of February 27, 1996, on housing improvement support for persons with meritorious services to the revolution;

- The Prime Minister’s Decision No. 20/2000/QD-TTg of February 3, 2000, on housing improvement support for revolutionary activists before the 1945 August Revolution;

- The Prime Minister’s Decision No. 117/2007/QD-TTg of July 25, 2007, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 118/TTg of February 27, 1996, on housing improvement support for persons with meritorious services to the revolution, and Article 3 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 20/2000/QD-TTg of February 3, 2000, on housing improvement support for revolutionary activists before the 1945 August Revolution.

b/ For house buyers being persons with disabilities, lonely elderly persons or members of poor households or households close to the poverty line in urban areas, the level of exemption from or reduction of the land use levy must comply with Clause 1, Article 68 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

For poor households or households close to the poverty line or households having persons with disabilities, the 60% reduction of the land use levy must apply to the whole household (rather than to each member of the household). For example, Mr. A’s family is a poor household with 3 members named in the house rent contract, his family is only entitled to a 60% reduction of the payable land use levy upon house purchase; Mr. B’s family has 2 members named in the house purchase contract who are persons with disabilities, or has persons with disabilities and concurrently is a poor household, this family may only enjoy a 60% reduction of the payable land use levy when purchasing an old house;

c/ The exemption from and reduction of the land use levy upon sale of state-owned old houses to the persons prescribed at Points a and b of this Clause only apply to the land area within the limit set by provincial-level People’s Committees of localities having houses.

4. The level of reduction of payable amounts for purchase of state-owned old houses shall be based on the number of working years and must comply with the following provisions:

a/ For every one working year, a house buyer is entitled to a reduction equal to 0.69 time the minimum salary applicable to cadres, civil servants and public employees or to 1.24 times the minimum salary applicable to members of the people’s armed forces.

Example: If Mr. A has 20 working years and at the time of signing the house purchase contract, the minimum salary is VND 1,210,000, the reduction of his payable amount for house purchase shall be calculated as follows: VND 1,210,000 x 0.69 time x 20 years = VND 16,698,000; in case Mr. A works in the people’s armed forces, the reduction shall be calculated as follows: VND 1,210,000 x 1.24 times x 20 years = VND 30,008,000;

b/ For persons with meritorious services to the revolution, members of poor households, persons with disabilities and lonely elderly persons with a number of working years for which the reduced amount for house purchase is lower than 6.9 times the minimum salary, they are entitled to a reduction equal to 6.9 times the minimum salary. In case these persons have no working year, the reduction equals exactly 6.9 times the minimum salary.

Example: Mr. B is a person with meritorious services to the revolution, and has 5 working years for which the reduction of the payable amount for house purchase will be lower than 6.9 times the minimum salary (VND 1,210,000 x 1.24 x 5 years = VND 7,502,000). So Mr. B is entitled to a reduction equal exactly to 6.9 times the minimum salary (VND 1,210,000 x 6.9 times = VND 8,349,000). In case he has no working year, he is entitled to a reduction equal to 6.9 times the minimum salary of VND 8,349,000.

Article 28. Sale of state-owned old houses’ areas under common use

The house area under common use within the premises of a house occupied by more than one household (including the area of dwelling house and residential land) prescribed in Clause 1, Article 71 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP shall be handled as follows:

1. To sell the housing area and residential land under common use when the following conditions are fully met:

a/ The organization, household or person requesting to buy the house area under common use is the owner of the entire house area sold by the State (this area has been granted a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets, or a contract on house purchase and sale has been signed);

b/ The organization, household or person that is owning the entire house area sold makes an application for purchase of the whole housing area and residential land under common use;

c/ The area under common use is not under dispute or complaint.

2. The level of payable amount for house purchase and land use levy for the area under common use shall be determined in accordance with Clause 1, Article 71 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP without exemption from and reduction of the land use levy upon sale of this area.

Chapter IV

HOUSE OWNERSHIP IN VIETNAM BY FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

Article 29. Method of determining numbers of houses under housing construction investment projects in Vietnam allowed to be owned by foreign organizations and individuals

1. For a condominium (including condominiums for mixed use purpose), foreign organizations and individuals may own no more than 30% of the total number of dwelling apartments of that condominium. For a condominium with many blocks or units, foreign organizations and individuals may own no more than 30% of the total number of dwelling apartments of each block or unit.

2. The number of individual houses (including semi-detached houses, separate houses and villas) allowed to be owned by foreign organizations and individuals shall be determined as follows:

a/ In an area with a population equivalent to that of a ward-level administrative unit where there is only 1 housing construction investment project, foreign organizations and individuals may own no more than 10% of the total number of individual houses of the project, which, however, must not exceed 250 (two hundred and fifty); in case there are 2 or more projects, foreign organizations and individuals may own no more than 10% of the total number of houses of each project but the total number of individual houses allowed to be owned by foreign organizations and individuals in all projects must not exceed 250 (two hundred and fifty);

b/ In an area with a population equivalent to that of a ward-level administrative unit where there are many housing construction investment projects and the number of individual houses owned by foreign organizations and individuals has reached the limit prescribed at Point a of this Clause, foreign organizations and individuals may not additionally buy and own individual houses of other projects in this area.

3. The population of a housing construction investment project shall be determined based on the approved construction planning. The population equivalent to that of a ward-level administrative unit shall be determined in accordance with the law on organization of local administrations.

Article 30. Reporting on house ownership in Vietnam by foreign organizations and individuals

1. Provincial-level Construction Departments shall report to the Ministry of Construction biannually, annually and at request on house ownership by foreign organizations and individuals in their localities.

2. Agencies granting certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets (below referred to as certificate) shall send reports on the grant of the certificates together with copies of the certificates granted to foreign organizations and individuals owning houses in Vietnam according to the form in Appendix No. 23 to this Circular to the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for monitoring and management.

Article 31. Management of foreign house lessors

1. Before signing a contract on lease of a house under his/her ownership, a foreigner shall send a notice of such lease to the district-level housing management division of the locality where the house is located. This notice must specify the house owner’s name, the address of the house on lease, lease duration, copy of the certificate of the house on lease and use purpose of the house on lease.

2. In case registration for house lease business is required by Vietnamese law, a foreign house lessor shall register the house lease business in accordance with law; when terminating the house lease contract, he/she shall notify such in writing to the district-level housing management division of the locality where the house is located for monitoring and management.

3. District-level housing management divisions shall notify the foreigners’ house lease business to tax agencies for tax collection in accordance with the tax law; and report to provincial-level Construction Departments biannually, annually and at request on the house lease by foreigners in their localities for summarization and reporting to provincial-level People’s Committees and the Ministry of Construction.

Chapter V

TRANSFER OF COMMERCIAL HOUSE PURCHASE AND SALE CONTRACTS

Article 32. Conditions for transfer of commercial house purchase and sale contracts

1. An organization or individual buying a house from the owner of a commercial housing construction project that has not or has received the house may transfer the house purchase and sale contract to another organization or individual before the certificate application dossier is submitted to a competent state agency.

2. An organization or individual that is transferred a house purchase and sale contract may further transfer this contract to another organization or individual before the certificate application dossier is submitted to a competent state agency.

3. A house purchase and sale contract shall be transferred for each individual house or apartment. In case the purchase and sale contract with the owner covers many houses (apartments, individual houses), all the houses under this contract shall be transferred; a transferor that wishes to transfer one or some of the houses bought from the project owner shall re-make the house purchase and sale contract or make an annex to the house purchase and sale contract with the project owner for the houses to be transferred before carrying out the procedures to transfer the contract.

Article 33. Order and procedures for transfer of commercial house purchase and sale contracts

1. The transferor and transferee of a house purchase and sale contract shall reach agreement to make a document on transfer of the house purchase and sale contract in accordance with Article 34 of this Circular. The contract transfer document signed by the two parties shall be made in 6 copies (3 to be sent to the project owner for filing, 1 to the tax agency, 1 to the contract transferor for filing, and 1 to the contract transferee for filing); in case notarization or certification of the contract transfer document is required, 1 more copy shall be made for filing at the notary office or certification agency.

2. A contract transfer document shall be notarized or certified in accordance with the following provisions:

a/ In case the house purchase and sale contract transferor is not  an enterprise or a cooperative licensed to do real estate business as prescribed by the law on real estate business, the contract transfer document shall be notarized or certified. A dossier of request for notarization or certification must comprise the following papers:

- 7 original copies of the house purchase and sale contract transfer document;

- The original house purchase and sale contract signed with the commercial housing construction project owner; for transfer from the second time onward, the original contract transfer document of the preceding transfer; for transfer of one or some of the houses bought from the project owner under the principal contract, certified copy of the principal contract and the original annex to the house purchase and sale contract signed with the project owner for transferred houses;

- A certified copy or a copy together with the original for comparison of the identity card or citizen card or valid passport, for individuals; or of the establishment decision or establishment registration certificate, for organizations;

- Other papers as prescribed by the law on notarization and certification.

Notarization practice organizations or certification agencies shall notarize or certify contract transfer documents within the time limit prescribed by the law on notarization and certification.

b/ In case the house purchase and sale contract transferor is an enterprise or a cooperative licensed to do real estate business, the notarization or certification of the contract transfer document is not compulsory and is up to the parties’ agreement. If they agree on the notarization or certification of the transfer document, such notarization or certification must comply with Point a of this Clause.

3. After fulfilling all tax, fee and charge payment obligations for the transfer of the house purchase and sale contract under regulations, the transferee shall submit a dossier of request for certification of the contract transfer document to the project owner.

a/ A dossier of request for the project owner’s certification must comprise the following papers:

- 5 original copies of the house purchase and sale contract transfer document, including 1 copy of the transferor (notarization or certification, if required, shall be made before submission to the project owner);

- The original house purchase and sale contract signed with the commercial housing construction project owner; for transfer from the second time onward, the original contract transfer document of the preceding transfer; for transfer of one or some of the houses bought from the project owner under the principal contract, certified copy of the principal contract and the original annex to the house purchase and sale contract signed with the project owner for transferred houses; in case of having received houses, a certified copy of the house handover record;

- A receipt of tax payment for the house purchase and sale contract transfer or document proving eligibility for tax exemption as prescribed by the tax law;

- A certified copy or a copy together with the original for comparison of the transferee’s identity card or citizen card or passport or equivalent paper, for individuals; or of the establishment decision or establishment registration certificate, for organizations;

b/ The project owner shall certify the contract transfer document within 5 working days after receiving a complete dossier prescribed at Point a of this Clause and hand over to the dossier-submitting party the following papers:

- 2 house purchase and sale contract transfer documents certified by the project owner, including 1 of the transferor and 1 of the transferee;

- The original house purchase and sale contract signed with the commercial housing construction project owner; the original contract transfer document of the preceding transfer (for transfer for the second time onward); certified copy of the house purchase and sale contract and the original annex to the house purchase and sale contract signed with the project owner for transferred houses (for transfer of one or some of the houses bought from the project owner under the principal contract); a certified copy of the house handover record (in case the project owner has handed over houses);

- A receipt of tax payment for house purchase and sale contract transfer or document proving eligibility for tax exemption as prescribed by the tax law.

4. The contract transfer from the second time onward must undergo the procedures as for the first contract transfer.

5. The final transferee of a house purchase and sale contract shall be granted a certificate by a competent state agency in accordance with the land law. When applying for a certificate, apart from the papers required by the land law, the applicant shall submit to the certificate-granting agency the following papers:

a/ The original house purchase and sale contract signed with the project owner; for transfer from the second time onward, the original contract transfer document of the preceding transfer; for transfer of one or some of the houses bought from the project owner under the principal contract, a certified copy of the principal contract and the original annex to the house purchase and sale contract signed with the project owner for the transferred houses; in case of having received houses, the original house handover record;

b/ The original document on the final contract transfer certified by the project owner.

6. Certification of contract transfer documents in case project owners are unidentified (due to dissolution, bankruptcy, operation termination or for other reasons as prescribed by law):

a/ In case the house purchase and sale contract transfer was made before the effective date of this Circular and the transferred house has not been granted a certificate, the house purchase and sale contract transfer document shall be certified by the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the house is located;

b/ In case the commune-level People’s Committee does not have sufficient grounds for certification as prescribed at Point a of this Clause, it shall publicly post up a copy of the house purchase and sale contract transfer document at its head office and in the place of the residential group of the locality where the house is located; if there is no dispute or complaint, 60 days after the date of posting up the copy of the contract transfer document, the commune-level People’s Committee shall certify on the house purchase and sale contract transfer document that there is no dispute or complaint as a basis for a competent agency to grant a certificate to the transferee.

Article 34. Contents and form of a house purchase and sale contract transfer document

1. A house purchase and sale contract transfer document must contain the following principal contents:

a/ Information on the transferor and transferee, which are personal details, for individuals, or names and at-law representatives of the organizations, for organizations;

b/ Serial number and date of the house purchase and sale contract with the project owner;

c/ Contract transfer price, deadline for and method of payment;

d/ Rights and obligations of parties;

dd/ Dispute settlement;

e/ Other agreements.

2. The form of the house purchase and sale contract transfer document is provided in Appendix No. 24 to this Circular. Parties may reach agreement to modify terms and provisions in the form of the house purchase and sale contract transfer document as appropriate, but the contract transfer document signed by these parties must contain all the principal contents prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article and must not contravene the civil law and the housing law.

Chapter VI

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 35. Responsibilities of provincial-level People’s Committees

1. To perform the assigned tasks in accordance with the Housing Law, Article 85 of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, and Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. To set specific criteria of priority for selection of lessees and lessees-buyers of state-owned social houses in their localities in accordance with Article 16 of this Circular.

3. To promulgate or amend and supplement housing-related legal documents under their competence to ensure compliance with the Housing Law, Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP and this Circular.

4. To direct the implementation of the housing law; to direct the inspection and examination of the observance of the housing law and handle according to their competence or propose competent agencies to handle housing-related violations in their localities.

Article 36. Responsibilities of provincial-level Construction Departments

1. To perform the tasks of the provincial-level housing management agency in accordance with the Housing Law, Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, decisions of provincial-level People’s Committees, and Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with local specialized agencies in, developing specific criteria for selection of lessees and lessees-buyers of state-owned social houses in accordance with Article 16 of this Circular and submit them to provincial-level People’s Committees for approval under regulations.

3. To inspect, examine and handle violations of regulations on management and use of state-owned houses in their localities according to their competence or report them to competent agencies for handling under regulations.

4. To report to provincial-level People’s Committees and the Ministry of Construction on the management and use of state-owned houses in their localities biannually, annually and upon request.

Article 37. Transitional handling

1. For localities having formed expert teams for selecting owners of commercial housing construction projects in accordance with the Government’s Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP of June 23, 2010, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Housing Law, these teams shall continue their appraisal and propose provincial-level People’s Committees to recognize project owners for cases in which dossiers of request for project owner recognition were submitted before the effective date of this Circular. From the effective date of this Circular, the formation, consolidation and operation of expert teams must comply with this Circular.

2. From the effective date of this Circular, those having submitted dossiers of request for rent or rent-purchase of state-owned social houses; or for purchase, rent or rent-purchase of state-owned houses for resettlement before the effective date of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP are not required to supplement these dossiers as prescribed by Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP, except in case certification of the income condition is required in order to enjoy social housing support policies as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 14 of this Circular.

3. Parties having signed contracts on rent of state-owned houses before the effective date of Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP are not required to re-sign these contracts as prescribed in this Circular, and may continue performing these contracts until their expiration.

Article 38. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on August 15, 2016.

2. The following circulars cease to be effective on the effective date of this Circular:

a/ The Construction Minister’s Decision No. 29/2001/QD-BXD of November 19, 2001, on the forms of house purchase and sale contract and application for a certificate of the rights to own house and use residential land applicable to overseas Vietnamese buying houses in Vietnam in accordance with the Government’s Decree No. 81/2001/ND-CP of November 5, 2001;

b/ The Construction Minister’s Decision No. 17/2006/QD-BXD of June 7, 2006, issuing a provisional regulation on minimum conditions on houses for lease to workers for dwelling;

c/ The Construction Minister’s Circular No. 38/2009/TT-BXD of December 8, 2009, guiding the management and use of villas in urban areas;

d/ The Construction Minister’s Circular No. 16/2010/TT-BXD of September 1, 2010, prescribing in detail and guiding some contents of the Government’s Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP of June 23, 2010, detailing and guiding the implementation of the Housing Law;

dd/ The Construction Minister’s Circular No. 14/2013/TT-BXD of September 19, 2013, guiding some contents of the Government’s Decree No. 34/2013/ND-CP of April 22, 2013, on management and use of state-owned houses;

e/ The Construction Minister’s Circular No. 03/2014/TT-BXD of February 20, 2014, amending and supplementing Article 21 of the Construction Minister’s Circular No. 16/2010/TT-BXD of September 1, 2010, prescribing in detail and guiding some contents of the Government’s Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP of June 23, 2010, detailing and guiding the implementation of the Housing Law;

g/ The Construction Minister’s Circular No. 07/2014/TT-BXD of May 20, 2014, guiding some contents of the Government’s Decree No. 84/2013/ND-CP of July 25, 2013, on development and management of houses for resettlement.

3. For contents related to housing development, housing management and use, housing transactions, house ownership and state management of housing prescribed in legal documents promulgated by the Ministry of Construction, ministries, sectors and provincial-level People’s Committees before the effective date of this Circular which are different from provisions of  this Circular, this Circular shall prevail.

4. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Construction for consideration and guidance according to its competence.-

For the Minister of Construction
Deputy Minister
DO DUC DUY

* All the Appendices to this Circular are not translated.