Decree 10/2023/ND-CP amending decrees guiding the Land Law

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the decrees guiding the implementation of the Land Law^[1]

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2013 Land Law;

Pursuant to the November 17, 2016 Law on Property Auction;

Pursuant to the June 17, 2020 Law on Investment;

Pursuant to the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 39/2021/QH15 of November 13, 2021, on the national land-use master plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, and the 2021-2025 five-year national land-use plan;

At the proposal of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment,

The Government promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the decrees guiding the implementation of the Land Law.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP of May 15, 2014, detailing a number of articles of the Land Law

1. To add Clause 4 to Article 15 as follows:

“4. The period during which a force majeure event affects the project’s land use progress shall not be counted into the extended 24-month duration specified at Point i, Clause 1, Article 64 of the Land Law and Article 15b of this Decree.

The chairperson of a provincial-level People’s Committee shall, based on law-prescribed cases of force majeure events and the actual implementation of an investment project, determine the period during which a force majeure event affects the project’s land use progress, for a project implemented in a province or centrally run city. In case a project is implemented in two or more provinces or centrally run cities, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall make consideration and decision based on the proposal of the related provincial-level People’s Committee; in case of necessity, it may consult related ministries and sectors.”

2. To amend and supplement Article 15b as follows:

“Article 15b. Land recovery in case of termination of operation of investment projects under the investment law

Land recovery in case of termination of operation of investment projects under the investment law, except the cases of land recovery by the State specified in Clause 1, Article 64 and Clause 1, Article 65 of the Land Law, is specified as follows:

1. In case of land allocation by the State requiring land use levy payment or in case of land lease by the State requiring one-off payment of land rental for the entire lease term:

a/ The project owner may continue using the allocated or leased land area for 24 months from the date the investment project’s operation is terminated in accordance with the investment law;

b/ Within 24 months from the date the investment project’s operation is terminated under regulations, the project owner may transfer the land use rights and sell land-attached lawful assets to another investor in accordance with law.

Upon the expiration of the extended 24-month land-use duration, if the project owner can neither transfer the land use rights nor sell its/his/her land-attached lawful assets to another investor, the State shall recover the land area without paying compensation for land and land-attached assets, except the cases of force majeure events specified in Clause 1, Article 15 of this Decree.

2. In case of land lease by the State with annual payment of land rental:

a/ The project owner may continue using the leased land area for 24 months from the date the investment project’s operation is terminated in accordance with the investment law;

b/ Within 24 months from the date the investment project’s operation is terminated under regulations, the project owner may sell land-attached lawful assets to another investor in accordance with law. The State shall recover the land area from the seller of leased land-attached assets for lease to the asset buyer;

Upon the expiration of the extended 24-month land-use duration, if the project owner cannot sell its/his/her land-attached lawful assets to another investor, the State shall recover the land area without paying compensation for land and land-attached assets, except the cases of force majeure events specified in Clause 1, Article 15 of this Decree.”

3. To add Article 17a as follows:

“Article 17a. Auction of land use rights when the State allocates land requiring land use levy payment or leases land

1. To participate in an auction of land use rights, an organization must fully satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Being eligible for land allocation or land lease by the State as specified in Article 55 or 56 of the Land Law. In case an auction is organized for a land parcel or a project involving one or more land parcel(s) under cross ownership of 2 (two) or more companies under the law on enterprises, only one of these companies may participate in the auction of land use rights of the above-mentioned land parcel(s);

b/ Satisfying the conditions specified in Clause 3, Article 58 of the Land Law, and Clauses 2 and 3, Article 14 of this Decree;

c/ Making an advance payment equal to 20% of the total value of the land parcel or land area which is calculated according to the reserve price for auction of land use rights;

d/ Not being banned from participating in auction in accordance with law;

dd/ Satisfying the conditions specified in the housing and real estate business laws, in case of auction of land use rights to implement housing projects or other real estate business projects.

2. To participate in an auction of land use rights, a household or an individual must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Being eligible for land allocation or land lease by the State as specified in Article 55 or 56 of the Land Law, and satisfying the conditions specified at Points c and d, Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Satisfying the conditions specified at Point a of this Clause and Points b and dd, Clause 1 of this Article, for households and individuals wishing to participate in auction of land use rights to implement investment projects.

3. Conditions for a land area to be put up for auction of land use rights:

a/ Complying with Clause 1, Article 119 of the Land Law;

b/ The reserve price for auction has been decided by a competent state agency;

c/ The auction of land use rights is conducted for each land parcel;

d/ The detailed plan of a 1:500 scale has been approved by a competent agency, for the land area used for implementation of housing projects.

4. From the time of announcing the auction winner, the advance payment and interest thereon (if any) shall be converted into a deposit to secure the performance of the land user’s financial obligations.

In case the auction winner fails to pay or fully pay the amount specified at Point d, Clause 5, Article 68 of this Decree, it/he/she will not be entitled to refund of the deposit. In case the auction winner has paid an amount higher than the deposit, the State shall refund the difference under regulations.”

4. To add Clause 5 to Article 32 as follows:

“5. For construction works used for tourist accommodation purpose on commercial or service land areas in accordance with the tourism law, if the conditions specified in the land, construction and real estate business laws are fully satisfied, ownership certification shall be granted for land-attached construction works according to use purpose of commercial or service land; the land use term must comply with Clause 3, Article 126 and Clause 1, Article 128 of the Land Law. Owners of the construction works shall take responsibility before law for whether they fully satisfy the conditions specified in the construction and real estate business laws.

The grant of certification of ownership of construction works specified in this Clause must comply with Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. The information on land parcels stated in ownership certificates must show the use purpose and land use term in accordance with law.”

5. To amend and supplement Article 37 as follows:

“Article 37. Grant of certificates for the cases specified in Clause 4, Article 95 and Clause 3, Article 105 of the Land Law

1. For localities where land registration offices have been established under Clause 1, Article 5 of this Decree, the grant of certificates or certification of changes in the granted certificates is specified as follows:

a/ Land registration offices shall grant certificates or certify changes in the granted certificates for religious organizations or institutions; overseas Vietnamese implementing investment projects; foreign organizations and individuals; and foreign-invested enterprises;

b/ Land registration offices’ branches or land registration offices shall grant certificates or certify changes in the granted certificates for households, individuals, residential communities, and overseas Vietnamese eligible to own houses associated with the right to use residential land in Vietnam;

c/ Land registration offices and land registration offices’ branches may use their seals in the grant of certificates or certification of changes in the granted certificates.

2. For localities where land registration offices have not yet been established under Clause 1, Article 5 of this Decree:

a/ Provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment shall grant certificates to religious organizations or institutions; overseas Vietnamese implementing investment projects; foreign organizations and individuals; and foreign-invested enterprises;

b/ District-level People’s Committees shall grant certificates to households, individuals, residential communities, and overseas Vietnamese eligible to own houses associated with the right to use residential land in Vietnam.

3. In case a provincial-level People’s Committee authorizes the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment to grant certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets specified in Clause 1, Article 105 of the Land Law, the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment may use its seal in the grant of certificates.

4. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall specify cases of grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets upon registration of changes in land or land-attached assets, and certification of changes in granted certificates.”

6. To add Clause 5 to Article 46 as follows:

“5. In case agro-forestry companies have obtained land allocation or land lease decisions according to the approved land use plans under Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, but then the State recovers land from these companies for use for the purposes specified in Articles 61 and 62 of the Land Law, no adjustment shall be made to such land use plans; land recovery must comply with current regulations.”

7. To amend Clause 6 of, and add Clauses 7 and 8 to, Article 60 as follows:

“6. Performance of land-related administrative procedures in the electronic environment

a/ Based on specific conditions on land-related information technology infrastructure and land databases under their management, agencies receiving dossiers and notifying results of settlement of land-related administrative procedures specified in this Article shall organize the receipt of dossiers and notify results of settlement of administrative procedures in the electronic environment under the Government’s regulations.

b/ The performance of administrative procedures for registration and grant of certificates in the electronic environment is specified as follows:

Agencies receiving dossiers and settling administrative procedures shall carry out land-related administrative order and procedures in accordance with the land law; in case it is necessary to carry out inspection or verification for clarification or for other reasons, making it impossible to notify the results of settlement of land-related administrative procedures within the law-prescribed time limit, agencies receiving dossiers and settling administrative procedures shall send to the requesters a paper notice or a notice through a public service portal or via SMS, clearly stating the reason.

Land users and owners of land-attached assets shall fulfill their financial obligations in accordance with law in person or online through using the payment function of the public service portal.

Dossier-receiving agencies or agencies settling administrative procedures shall ask the requesters for performance of administrative procedures to submit the originals of the granted certificates and required papers after the land users have fulfilled their financial obligations.

The notification of results of settlement of administrative procedures shall be carried out at dossier-receiving agencies, or through the public postal service, or at demanded places, for cases of receiving dossiers and notifying results of settlement of procedures for registration of land and other land-attached assets, and grant, renewal or re-grant of certificates.

7. Land users and owners of land-attached assets requesting the performance of land-related administrative procedures specified in this Article shall take responsibility before law for the accuracy and honesty of declared information and papers included in the submitted dossiers.

Dossier-receiving agencies shall check the completeness of dossier components; agencies settling land-related administrative procedures shall strictly comply with regulations on their competence and time limits, and is not required to take responsibility for contents of the documents and papers included in dossiers that were previously accepted, appraised, approved or processed by other competent agencies or persons.

8. The data connection and sharing and electronic connection among related agencies to settle administrative procedures and fulfill financial obligations of requesters for performance of administrative procedures must comply with the regulations on performance of administrative procedures in the electronic environment and the regulations on implementation of the single-window and inter-agency single-window mechanisms.”

8. To add Article 65a as follows:

“Article 65a. Order and procedures for land recovery in case of termination of operation of investment projects under the investment law

1. An investment registration agency or investor shall send a document on termination of operation of a land-using investment project in accordance with the investment law to an agency in charge of natural resources and environment of the locality where the land area exists, except the case specified at Point d, Clause 2, Article 48 of the Law on Investment.

2. After receiving the document on termination of operation of the investment project, the agency in charge of natural resources and environment shall check and determine investment projects subject to operation termination for which land recovery is required.

3. Land recovery and implementation of land recovery decisions must comply with Article 15b and Clauses 2, 3 and 4, Article 66 of this Decree.”

9. To add Article 68a as follows:

“Article 68a. Conditions and criteria for repurposing of land for rice cultivation, land for protection forests and land for special-use forests for implementation of investment projects

1. The investment policy has been approved or the investment registration certificate has been granted for the concerned project in accordance with the investment law.

2. The concerned project complies with the district-level land-use master plan and is included in the approved district-level annual land-use plan in accordance with law.

3. The project owner has a plan on planting of replacement forests or a document proving its/his/her fulfillment of the obligation to pay for the planting of replacement forests in accordance with the law on forestry, in case of repurposing of land for protection forests or land for special-use forests; or the project owner has a plan on use of the surface land area and a document proving its/his/her fulfillment of the obligation to pay for the protection and development of paddy land in accordance with the law on crop production, in case of repurposing of paddy land.

4. The preliminary environmental impact assessment or environmental impact assessment (if any) is conducted in accordance with the law on environmental protection.

5. Agencies or persons competent to appraise or approve the policy on repurposing of land for protection forests, land for special-use forests and paddy land shall take responsibility only for the contents specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article and are not required to take responsibility for other contents which were previously appraised, accepted, decided, approved or processed by other competent agencies or persons.”

10. To add Article 68b as follows:

“Article 68b. Order and procedures for land allocation and land lease for the case specified in Clause 3, Article 29 of the Law on Investment

In case of investor approval under Clause 3, Article 29 of the 2020 Law on Investment, the order and procedures for land allocation, land lease or permission for land repurposing specified in Clause 3, Article 68 of this Decree shall apply. Competent agencies shall carry out the procedures for approval of investors when the investors satisfy the conditions specified in relevant laws.

Agencies or persons competent to settle procedures for land allocation, land lease or permission for land repurposing are not required to take responsibility for the contents regarding approval of investment policy and investor selection under the investment and housing laws and relevant laws.”

11. To amend and supplement Article 72 as follows:

“Article 72. Order and procedures for registration and grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets to the persons acquiring land use rights or buying houses and construction works under housing development projects or real estate business projects other than housing development projects

1. After completing a work under a project, the project owner shall send to the concerned provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment the following papers:

a/ For a housing development project:

The certificate or decision on land allocation or land lease issued by a competent agency; the document proving the project owner’s fulfillment of financial obligation; in case of any change in financial obligations, the document proving the fulfillment of financial obligation with respect to such change (except cases in which the project owner is entitled to exemption from or late payment of financial obligation as prescribed by law);

The plan of built houses and land on which construction was carried out, which are as-built drawings or design drawings of the ground areas with the dimensions of sides of each sold apartment conformable with the current construction status and signed contract; construction license (if any); the specialized construction agency’s notice permitting the project owner to conduct pre-acceptance test of the completed construction work or approving the result of pre-acceptance test of the completed construction work to be commissioned in accordance with the construction law; list of apartments and construction works (with information on serial number of apartment, land area, construction area, and areas under common use and separate use of each apartment); for an apartment building, the plan must show the scope (dimension and area) of the land area for common use of apartment owners, construction ground of the apartment building and ground of each floor and each apartment.

b/ For a real estate business project other than a housing development project:

The certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets; the document proving the project owner’s fulfillment of financial obligation; in case of any change in financial obligation, the document proving the fulfillment of financial obligation with respect to such change (except cases in which the project owner is entitled to exemption from or late payment of financial obligation as prescribed by law);

Design drawings of the ground in conformity with the current construction status and signed contract; the specialized construction agency’s notice permitting the project owner to conduct pre-acceptance test of the completed work item or work or approving the result of the pre-acceptance test of the completed work item or work to be commissioned in accordance with the construction law; list of assets (works, work items, the land area for work items), including information about name of asset, land area, construction area under common and separate use of each asset.

2. Within 30 days after receiving a valid dossier, the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall examine the current status of land use and built houses and construction works other than houses, and conditions for transfer of land use rights and sale of houses and construction works of the project owner.

After completing the examination, the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall send to the project owner a notice of examination results; and send the notice together with the plan of examined houses, land and construction works other than houses to the land registration office for carrying out procedures for registration of houses, land and construction works other than houses for the buyer, in case the law-specified conditions are fully satisfied; examination results shall be publicized on the websites of the provincial-level People’s Committee and Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the locality where the land area exists.

3. The housing project owner shall submit 1 set of dossiers for registration and grant of a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets on behalf of the persons acquiring land use rights or buying houses and construction works other than houses or provide dossiers for the buyers to make registration by themselves. A dossier must comprise:

a/ A written request for registration of land and land-attached assets and grant of a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets;

b/ The contract on transfer of land use rights and purchase and sale of houses and construction works (other than houses) as prescribed by law;

c/ The record of handover of houses, land and construction works other than houses.

4. A land registration office shall:

a/ Examine legal documents in the dossier; certify whether the project owner is eligible or not eligible for grant of a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets in the written request for registration;

b/ Send cadastral data to a tax office for determination of financial obligations;

c/ Update information to the cadastral records and land database (if any);

d/ Grant a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets under Article 37 of this Decree;

dd/ Request the project owner to submit the granted certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets for making modifications to the cadastral records and land database;

e/ Hand over the certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets to the requester.

5. Land registration offices shall receive dossiers, and settle procedures for registration and grant of certificates to the persons acquiring land use rights or buying houses and construction works other than houses under housing development projects or real estate business projects other than housing development projects if these persons have submitted a complete dossier specified in Clause 3 of this Article.”

12. To amend and supplement Article 101 as follows:

“Article 101. Competence to adjust decisions on land recovery, land allocation, land lease or permission for land repurposing issued before July 1, 2014

Agencies competent to decide on land recovery, land allocation, land lease or permission for land repurposing under the 2013 Land Law have the competence to decide on adjustments for cases in which decisions on land recovery, land allocation, land lease or permission for land repurposing have been issued, regardless of the competence to decide on land recovery, land allocation, land lease or permission for land repurposing before July 1, 2014.”

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of article of the Government’s Decree No. 44/2014/ND-CP of May 15, 2014, on land prices, as follows:

1. To add Clause 4 to Article 16 as follows:

“4. For the cases of applying land pricing methods specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4, Article 4 of this Decree, a provincial-level People’s Committee shall issue a decision approving specific land prices within 90 days after a competent state agency issues a decision on land allocation, land lease, land repurposing, or permission for change from land lease with annual rental payment to land lease with one-off rental payment for the entire lease term, extension of land use term, or adjustment of land use term.”

2. To add Article 18a as follows:

“Article 18a. Time for calculation for collection of land rental in cases eligible for land-use term extension or adjustment

1. In case a land user is eligible for land-use term extension by a competent state agency when the land use term expires, the time for calculation for collection of land rental is the first day of the subsequent land-lease term.

2. In case a land user is eligible for land-use term adjustment by a competent state agency:

a/ In case the land user uses land leased by the State with one-off rental payment for the entire lease term, the time for calculation for collection of land rental is the time when the State decides to adjust the land use term. The collection, deduction and refund of land rental must comply with the regulations on collection of land rental;

b/ In case the land user uses land leased by the State with annual rental payment, the time for calculation for collection of land rental for the first cycle of stable land rental unit prices is the time the State decides to adjust the land use term for calculation for collection of annual land rental.”

Article 3. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP of December 18, 2020, amending and supplementing a number of decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law

1. To amend and supplement Clause 12, Article 1 (Clause 2, Article 14b of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP) as follows:

“2. Use of commercial or service land.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 21, Article 1 (Point d, Clause 5, Article 68 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP) as follows:

“d/ Within 5 working days after the auction winner fulfills its/his/her financial obligation, the natural resources and environment agency shall propose a competent agency to grant a certificate and sign a land lease contract, in case of land lease; organize the on-site handover of land and deliver the certificate; and direct the updating  to and modification of the land database and cadastral records.

Within 120 days after obtaining a decision on recognition of the auction winner for land use rights, if the auction winner fails to pay or fully pay the amount with which it/he/she wins the auction of land use rights, the competent People’s Committee shall cancel such decision.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 5, Article 4 as follows:

“1. In case of use of land for production and business purposes as specified in Article 16 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP, which is inclusive of a land area allocated by the State to the project owner for management or agricultural land used for public purposes and it is possible to separate such land area into an independent project but the State has issued a decision on land recovery and land allocation or land lease to the project owner before the effective date of this Decree, the project owner may continue to use such land till the expiration of the land allocation or land lease term. In case the land recovery decision has been issued but no land allocation or land lease decision is issued, the provisions of this Decree shall apply, except the case specified at Point b, Clause 2, Article 118 of the Land Law.

In case the provincial-level People’s Committee has issued a written approval of the acquisition of land use rights, receipt of land use rights contributed as capital, or rent of agricultural land use rights to carry out a non-agricultural investment project before the effective date of this Decree, but past 36 months from the date of signing of such written approval, if the investor has not yet realized the commitment with land users and the use of land for project implementation complies with the approved land-use master plan and land use plan, it/he/she shall carry out procedures again to request approval of the provincial-level People’s Committee under this Decree.  

5. In case a competent agency has selected an investor for implementation of an investment project in accordance with the investment law before the effective date of this Decree and such investor is eligible for land allocation or land lease not through auction of land use rights as specified at Point b, Clause 2, Article 118 of the Land Law, the investor may continue to carry out procedures for land allocation or land lease not through auction of land use rights.”

Article 4. Transitional provisions

1. For certificates signed by competent agencies before the effective date of this Decree but not yet handed over to land users or owners of land-attached assets, it is required to carry out the procedures under regulations effective before the date this Decree takes effect.   

2. For dossiers on auction of land use rights received before the effective date of this Decree, it is required to continue to implement the regulations effective at the time of dossier receipt.

3. In case the dossiers on adjustment of the Prime Minister’s decisions on land recovery, land allocation, land lease, or permission for land repurposing issued before July 1, 2004, have been received, it is required to continue to implement the regulations effective before the date this Decree takes effect.

Article 5. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect on May 20, 2023. 

2. To replace the phrase “place of registration of permanent residence book” in Article 3a of the Government’s Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP of May 15, 2014, (which is supplemented under Clause 2, Article 2 of the Government’s Decree No. 01/2017/ND-CP of January 6, 2017, amending and supplementing a number of decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law), with the phrase “place of permanent residence registration”.

3. To replace the phrase “grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets as authorized under regulations” in Clause 4, Article 2 of Decree No. 01/2017/ND-CP with the phrase “grant of, and certification of changes in, certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached assets in accordance with law”.

4. To replace the phrases in the Appendix to the Government’s Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP of December 18, 2020, amending and supplementing a number of the Decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law, as follows:

a/ To replace the phrase “people’s identity card” in Form No. 01 with the phrase “people’s identity card/citizen identity card/personal identification number”;

b/ To replace the phrase “people’s identity card, personal identity card” in Form No. 02 with the phrase “people’s identity card/citizen identity card/personal identification number”;

c/ To replace the phrase “address of place of registration of permanent residence book, people’s identity card number” in Form No. 05 with the phrase “address of place of permanent residence registration, people’s identity card/citizen identity card/personal identification number”.

5. To annul:

a/ Clauses 4 and 5, Article 5b of the Government’s Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP of May 15, 2014 (which is supplemented under Clause 6, Article 2 of the Government’s Decree No. 01/2017/ND-CP of January 6, 2017, amending and supplementing a number of the decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law);

b/ Clauses 14, 23, 45 and 62, Article 2, and Clause 6, Article 3, of the Government’s Decree No. 01/2017/ND-CP of January 6, 2017, amending and supplementing a number of the decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law;

c/ Clauses 6 and 7, Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP of December 18, 2020, amending and supplementing a number of the decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law.

Article 6. Implementation responsibility

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels, and other related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government
For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
TRAN HONG HA