Guiding texts issued to facilitate enforcement of Housing Law

The Government and Ministry of Construction in July issued an array of documents to provide prompt guidance for implementation of the new Housing Law (the Law). These documents are set to come into force right on August 1, which is also the effective date of the Law.

The Government and Ministry of Construction in July issued an array of documents to provide prompt guidance for implementation of the new Housing Law (the Law). These documents are set to come into force right on August 1, which is also the effective date of the Law.

Decree 95/2024/ND-CP:

Released on July 24 to detail several articles of the Law, Government Decree 95contains noteworthy provisions such as: papers proving eligibility for house ownership in Vietnam; dossiers, order and procedures for foreign organizations and individuals to be entitled to extension of the house ownership duration in Vietnam; and management and ownership of houses by these subjects in Vietnam.

Specifically, the decree details Article 19 of the Law regarding quantity of houses which foreign organizations and individuals may own. It states that the population determined to be equivalent to that of a ward, regardless of administrative unit level, for use as a basis for determining the number of independent houses that foreign organizations and individuals are allowed to own is 10,000.

Regarding the quantity of houses permitted to be owned by foreign organizations and individuals, the decree says that, for a condominium, including also a mixed-use one, foreign organizations and individuals may own no more than 30 percent of the total apartments designated for residential purpose. In case the condominium has many units or many blocks sharing a basement, this quantity cap is 30 percent of the total apartments for residential purpose in each unit or block.

As for independent houses, if there is only one housing construction investment project implemented in an area with the population of 10,000, foreign organizations and individuals may own only 250 houses at most. In case there are two or more housing construction investment projects executed in such an area, foreign organizations and individuals may own houses in all of these projects but the total number of houses must not exceed 250.

 In case foreign organizations and individuals already own up to the law-specified number of independent houses under many projects in such an area, they may not additionally own independent houses under other projects in this area.
 

Decree 98/2024/ND-CP:

With Decree 98 issued on July 25, the Government provides guidance on condominium renovation and reconstruction for apartment users.

Noticeably, the new regulation stipulates five cases requiring an apartment owner to be relocated: (i) the condominium where he lives is damaged by fire or explosion and no longer meets the safety conditions for further use; (ii) the condominium suffers damage caused by disasters or enemy sabotage, just becoming unsafe for further use; (iii) the apartment user is subject to relocation under the approved compensation and resettlement plan; (iv) the condominium suffers severe damage; and (v) one of the main structures of the condominium is damaged.

Decree 100/2024/ND-CP

Regarding development and management of social houses, Decree 100 disclosed on July 26 specifies conditions for those who want to become beneficiaries of the social housing support policy. These include housing and income conditions.

As for the housing condition, it is required that, at the time of submitting a dossier for purchasing or renting with the option to purchase a social house, an applicant must prove that he has not owned any house yet in the province or centrally run city where the social housing project is implemented.

With respect to the income condition, a single person must prove that he actually earns no more than VND 15 million per month. Meanwhile, a married couple must show a proof that their total monthly income is VND 30 million at most. It should be noted that the income criterion is determined for one year prior to the date the applicant files a valid dossier to the project owner.

Circular 05/2024/TT-BXD

In another attempt, on July 31, the Ministry of Construction issued Circular 05 to detail a number of provisions of the Law regarding house lease by foreigners owning houses in Vietnam.

Worthy of note, before signing a house lease contract, a foreigner will have to send a notice of the lease to the district-level housing management agency of the locality where his house is located. He is also required to send another notice of termination of the house lease contract to such agency within 15 days from the date of contract termination.

The Circular also specifies requirements for individuals to construct multi-story and multi-apartment buildings.

Accordingly, for persons wishing to build houses with two or more floors with below 20 apartments, in which each floor is designed for construction of apartments for lease, they must obtain construction permits and produce design documents, showing the total number of apartments, number of apartments on each floor, area of each apartment, parking space, and shared-use areas of each floor and of the entire building.

At the same time, they must comply with fire protection requirements, fire safety requirements for independent houses, as well other requirements set by provincial-level administrations.

By VLLF