National Assembly delegates worry about agricultural land "fever" if commercial housing is piloted

National Assembly delegates expressed concern that the pilot use of agricultural and non-agricultural land for commercial housing would create a land "fever", causing barriers for businesses that need to use land for production and business.

Avoid taking advantage of policies for profiteering and land accumulation.

On November 13, the National Assembly discussed the draft Resolution on piloting the implementation of commercial housing projects through agreements on receiving land use rights or having land use rights.

Speaking at the discussion, delegate Nguyen Phuong Thuy (Hanoi) stated that this is not the first time the Government has proposed expanding land for commercial housing. The National Assembly has discussed this content at least three times.

Delegate Nguyen Phuong Thuy (Hanoi).

The last time, when discussing the draft of the new Land Law, many National Assembly delegates were also very concerned, because even the Government's report said that only some places had problems, not all localities.

"The proposal to add this policy right after the Land Law takes effect and implement it nationwide, with almost no limits, is not a pilot project, but an addition to the Land Law," Ms. Thuy commented.

Going into specific regulations, the Hanoi delegate said she was "very concerned because there is currently a land "fever", land prices are skyrocketing inexplicably and there is no solution to control it. If we allow a pilot program to use agricultural and non-agricultural land for commercial housing, will it create a "fever" for these types of land?"

And the spreading "land fever", according to delegate Thuy, will create barriers for businesses that need to use land for production and business.

If many people only focus on buying land waiting to convert into commercial housing, land prices will increase, not only will it be difficult for businesses to access land but the government will also have difficulty in management.

Ms. Thuy said that if the pilot is implemented, it should only be in a few localities to assess the changes, and not on a large scale as in the draft.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri province) also requested the Government to carefully evaluate the effectiveness of the current use of land for commercial housing. It is necessary to avoid inefficient use of land and taking advantage of this humane policy for personal gain. At the same time, it is necessary to minimize land speculation and accumulation, which negatively affects real estate prices.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri province).

Regarding the scope of adjustment, the Quang Tri delegate said that some localities have reported no difficulties in implementing commercial housing projects.

Therefore, it is necessary to pilot in some localities with great demand for commercial housing and localities that are having difficulty in implementing according to current regulations, then summarize, evaluate and expand the application to other localities.

Additional forms of land access in commercial housing construction

Further clarifying the issues of concern to delegates, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Do Duc Duy emphasized the need to issue a draft resolution. According to him, the nature of the pilot implementation is to "supplement the form of land access in commercial housing construction".

In response to concerns that it will overlap with the Land Law because this law stipulates cases where land use rights transfer is allowed, Minister Do Duc Duy explained that in the draft resolution, the Government has designed an additional clause 5, Article 1 to exclude projects that have been allowed to receive land use rights transfer under the 2024 Land Law.

That means "any case that has been regulated by the 2024 Land Law is excluded from the scope of regulation by this resolution".

Regarding the pilot implementation criteria, the draft resolution stipulates that no more than 30% of the residential land area will increase during the planning period (compared to the current status of residential land use).

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Do Duc Duy.

Explaining the reason for this regulation, Mr. Duy said that in Resolution 18 of the Central Committee, it is stipulated that land allocation and land lease are mainly carried out through auctions of land use rights and bidding for projects using land. Thus, the Central Committee's resolution stipulates that there will mainly be two forms of selection: auction and bidding.

Therefore, the third form is receiving the transfer of rights or the fourth form is changing the land use purpose with the land in use, if implemented, it is not the main one, so the Government proposes a maximum of 30%.

"The remaining 70% will be implemented through bidding or auction in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 18 of the Central Committee," said Minister Do Duc Duy.

In the draft, the Government proposes that investors implement commercial housing projects on one or more types of land: Agricultural land; non-agricultural land that is not residential land; residential land and other land on the same plot of land in the case of an agreement on receiving land use rights.

Examining this content, the National Assembly's Economic Committee still has many concerns. Many opinions at the Economic Committee believe that the regulations on types of land to be piloted are too broad, including rice-growing land, forestry land, land used for national defense and security purposes, land used for religious activities, etc.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-lo-ngai-sot-dat-nong-nghiep-neu-thi-diem-cho-lam-nha-o-thuong-mai-192241113141519831.htm