Directive No. 2196/CT-TTg 2011 on management of the real estate market

THE PRIME MINISTER

Directive No. 2196/CT-TTg of December 6, 2011, on a number of measures to intensify management of the real estate market

In the past years, the real estate market in our country has seen important steps of development. Many housing development projects and service works with complete technical and social infrastructure systems have been formed synchronously, which have changed the appearance of urban centers, improved people’s living standards and contributed to restructuring the economy toward industrialization and modernization, while promoting the national socio-economic development, step by step satisfying the housing demand of people of all strata and contributing to assuring social security. The real estate market has attracted a considerable amount of domestic and foreign investment capital and boosted the development of other production sectors. The legal system regulating the operation of the real estate market has been incrementally perfected, and the organizational structure of this market has been formed. Related agencies have coordinated in state management work to create favorable conditions and an open investment environment for the development of the real estate market.

Besides its positive aspects, the operation of the real estate market has revealed weaknesses in the past time. The market has developed in an unhealthy and unstable manner. The prices of real estate commodities, especially houses, remain high and complicated, particularly in major cities. The structure of houses on sale is imbalanced, lacking medium- and small-sized houses affordable to the majority of people, especially houses for lease. Speculation and price hiking remain common. Real estate sales tend to be on the decline, especially in the third quarter of 2011. The mobilization of resources for the implementation of social house development programs to serve social policy beneficiaries and low-income earners in urban areas, state officials, civil servants and employees, armed forces members and industrial park workers is still limited, causing difficulties to the settlement of housing problems for a large portion of urban dwellers. Housing investment has not yet been based on market demand and without housing development planning. Scattered and spontaneous investment or delayed projects remain popular, leading to uncoordinated development, lack of infrastructure connection and waste of land resources and investment capital of society.

The financial system for real estate remains imperfect. The chief source of capital for the real estate market is banks and the population. There are no medium- and long-term credits to support businesses and people in building houses. The reform of administrative procedures in construction investment, ground compensation and clearance, determination of land prices and collection of taxes on real estate transactions, the grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached property has not yet thoroughly addresses problems in the process of implementation, reducing the liquidity of the real estate market.

In order to address the above weaknesses and constraints, creating conditions for the healthy and sustainable development of the real estate market, it is necessary to further intensify management and control of the real estate market; raise the role and responsibility of state management agencies at the central level in examining, appraising and permitting investment in housing development projects and real estate business; restructure real estate commodities in response to the market demand, and concurrently step up the development of social houses with the participation and regulation of the State to meet the housing needs of low-income earners facing housing difficulties, contributing to boosting economic development and assuring social security. To realize the above objectives, the Prime Minister requests ministries, sectors and localities to properly perform the following tasks:

1. The Ministry of Construction:

a/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying amendments to complete the legal system on housing and real estate business along the line of promoting the role and responsibility of the Ministry of Construction and ministries and central sectors in the unified management of housing development and real estate business; to work out mechanisms and policies on and guide localities in strictly implementing the laws and regulations on housing and real estate business and management of the structure of housing commodities (including also commercial houses, social houses and houses for low-income earners in urban areas);

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, sectors and key localities with many real estate business investment projects in, reviewing housing development projects being implemented and those already assigned but slow to be implemented in order to classify projects allowed to be further implemented, projects to be suspended and projects to be adjusted in housing structure and types in response to the market demand and in accordance with local housing development plans; to examine and request housing development project investors to strictly comply with the regulation that 20% of a housing project’s land area already built with technical infrastructure facilities must be reserved for the construction of social houses, and report review and examination results to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2012;

c/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors and localities in, formulating, and directing the implementation of, annual, five-year and long-term housing development plans incorporating targets of development of social houses; to formulate, adjust and supplement mechanisms and policies appropriately, and at the same time to direct localities to strongly implement programs on building dormitories for students and houses for industrial park workers and for low-income earners in urban areas, and target housing support programs in rural areas, such as the programs on floor elevation against flooding and houses in the Mekong river delta, stage 2, and the program on housing support for rural poor households under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 167/2008/QD-TTg of December 12, 2008, on housing support for poor households, and the program on housing support for areas frequently hit by natural disasters, typhoons and floods;

d/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, studying and formulating and submitting to the Government  in the first quarter of 2012 a scheme on houses for lease, attaching importance to developing social houses for lease, and a scheme on home savings funds;

e/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and localities in, building up a housing statistics system to serve the making of policies on and the state management of houses and the real estate market.

2. The Ministry of Finance:

a/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in, guiding localities in applying the method of determining land prices close to market prices under normal conditions in a public and easy manner with simple procedures, helping them take the initiative in this work and reducing time and cost for enterprises;

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for studying and promulgating according to its competence documents guiding the implementation of the Law on Tax on the Use of Non-Agricultural Land so that the Law can be enforced promptly after it takes effect; to study, propose and report on real estate tax in the second quarter of 2012 to the Government in order to limit speculation and effectively use land and real estate;

c/ To study and revise regulations on personal income tax on real estate transfer to suit reality;

d/ To study and submit to the Government in the first quarter of 2012 a decree guiding the implementation of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Securities Law, including adjusting the model of real estate investment fund to provide capital support for the real estate market through the securities market channel.

3. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

a/ To direct and urge localities to accelerate the grant of certificates of land use rights and ownership of houses and land-attached property in urban areas; to examine and handle violations of investors and related management agencies which delay or trouble people in the grant of these certificates;

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for studying and issuing documents to guide local natural resources and environment agencies in determining land areas used for improper purposes, illegally occupied land areas and unused land areas according to regulations, as a basis for tax calculation and prompt implementation after the Law on Tax on the Use of Non-Agricultural Land takes effect.

4. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, examining the observance of laws and regulations on investment in foreign-invested real estate business projects.

5. The State Bank of Vietnam:

a/ To further direct commercial banks and credit institutions in strictly implementing the Government’s Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP of February 24, 2011, to ensure a reasonable and safe growth and ratio of credits for the real estate sector in line with the general credit administration policy. For the immediate time, to reduce the growth and ratio of credits for the real estate sector according to a reasonable roadmap, avoiding shock to the market while applying measures to increase liquidity and prevent its freezing which may have a domino effect on the whole credit institution system and social life;

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in, studying and guiding credit institutions in implementing the credit policy suitable to the real estate market restructuring progress; to direct credit institutions to arrange capital sources for extending investment loans to housing development projects for sale or lease to serve low-income earners and workers in industrial parks, export-processing zones and economic zones; and to customers who really need loans for buying homes; for the immediate time, to limit loans for ground compensation and clearance, newly started projects and high-grade real estate projects; to closely supervise to restrict the grant of loans to individuals for real estate business;

c/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and localities in, reviewing and further extending loans to real estate projects to be completed and capable of sale and retrieval of investment capital in 2012;

d/  To intensify examination and supervision of the extension of real estate credits by credit institutions, detect and promptly handle overdue debts which affect the credit quality of credit institutions.

6. The People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities:

a/ To review and examine housing development projects in their localities, take measures to ensure projects be implemented with synchronous technical and social infrastructure facilities, disallow the implementation of projects which fail to comply with the laws on housing and real estate business and local housing development master plans and plans and lack infrastructure conditions to meet minimum requirements for urban services; to resolutely withdraw or stop projects which are slow to be implemented and already allocated with land and leaving such land unused past the time limit prescribed by law;

b/ Depending on local conditions, to permit the use of commercial house projects for resettlement purposes and as social houses at low rent rates in accordance with local master plans and plans on development of these types of houses; to permit adjustment of the structure of products of each commercial housing project and each low-cost housing project in response to the market demand;

c/ To formulate annual, five-year and long-term housing development master plans and plans, incorporating specific targets of development of social houses and reserve appropriate local resources and create conditions for attracting all economic sectors, organizations and individuals, while applying flexible implementation methods, such as direct investment, investment in build-transfer (BT) form and purchase of houses, to meet the needs for houses for resettlement and social houses for lease in urban areas; to continue to implement target housing support programs in rural areas;

d/ To further examine the observance of laws and regulations on land, investment, housing development and real estate business, promptly handle violations in accordance with law, including revocation of business licenses and investment projects or requesting functional agencies to examine penal liability, as well as removing difficulties and problems for enterprises and people;

e/ To intensify the management of the operation of the real estate market and trading floors, ensuring publicity and transparency of the real estate market.

7. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall direct communications agencies in intensifying information work to quickly, accurately and correctly report on the market situation to generate consensus and mental stability of economic institutions and people regarding the Party and State’s guidelines, line and policies on real estate.

8. The Central Steering Committee for Housing and Real Estate Market Policy shall assist the Prime Minister in directing, urging and examining the performance of the tasks assigned under this Directive to the ministries, sectors and localities.

9. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of the provincial-level People’s Committees shall, within the ambit of their assigned functions and tasks, organize the serious study and implementation of this Directive.

10. The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Government Office in, examining and urging the implementation of this Directive, and periodically reporting thereon to the Prime Minister.-

Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG