Solving real estate supply problems

It is necessary to expand the conditions for receiving land use rights transfer to implement commercial housing projects.

At the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly, the Government submitted to the National Assembly a draft resolution on piloting the implementation of commercial housing projects (NƠTM) through agreements on receiving land use rights (QSDĐ) or having QSDĐ with a nationwide scope of application to remove legal difficulties for NƠTM projects under the scale of urban areas (under 20 hectares). If approved by the National Assembly, it will be implemented within 5 years, starting from January 1, 2025.

Untangling many projects

According to Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Do Duc Duy, from July 1, 2015, the Housing Law 2014 has different regulations from the Land Law. Accordingly, the condition for using land to implement a New Rural Development project is having the right to use residential land or residential land and other land; in case of receiving the right to use land, it must be residential land.

This regulation continues to be inherited at Point b, Clause 1 and Clause 6, Article 127 of the 2024 Land Law, which has narrowed the cases of implementing NƠTM projects under the scale of urban areas, especially in new areas and areas without residential land.

"In fact, the maximum land allocation limit for households and individuals over time is 400 square meters, the rest is agricultural land in the same plot of land, so even if investors receive land use rights transfer in residential areas, they cannot do so," said the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

In addition, most real estate projects are implemented on land that is not originally residential land and the detailed planning of the project also includes many different types of land such as residential land, traffic land, green land, etc. Therefore, according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 1, Article 127 of the 2024 Land Law, many projects cannot be implemented in practice.

The draft resolution was developed to resolve difficulties in the supply of real estate projects in the context of rising real estate prices, partly due to difficulties in accessing land for investors. "It is necessary to expand the conditions for receiving land use rights transfer to implement NƠTM projects, contributing to limiting complaints from people; ensuring fairness in land access among investors and localities, and maintaining a stable supply of NƠTM" - Minister Do Duc Duy said.

A commercial housing area in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HOANG TRIEU

According to the Government's submission, this resolution is applied nationwide to projects of real estate business organizations in 4 cases: Receiving land use rights; having land use rights; having land use rights and receiving land use rights; implementing NƠTM projects on land areas of establishments that must be relocated due to environmental pollution, establishments that must be relocated according to construction planning and urban planning.

Regarding the conditions for implementing a New Rural Development project through an agreement on receiving land use rights or having land use rights, the investor implementing a New Rural Development project must use one or more of the following types: agricultural land; non-agricultural land that is not residential land; residential land and other land in the same plot of land as the case of an agreement on receiving land use rights; and must also meet specific criteria.

Should be piloted on a small scale

Discussing this issue, many National Assembly deputies basically agreed with the necessity of issuing a resolution to remove difficulties and obstacles in implementing investment projects and doing business in new rural areas. Deputy Tran Hoang Ngan (HCMC delegation) acknowledged that the piloting of this policy will have a spillover effect in supporting the country's socio-economic development, especially removing difficulties in building new rural areas, creating favorable conditions for land users and investors to be proactive in implementing new rural areas and urban development projects, contributing to solving the need for residential land and housing for the people.

But there are also many concerns. Delegate Do Van Yen (Ba Ria - Vung Tau delegation) said that the draft resolution's proposal of a very wide range of land for piloting is not in line with the Land Law. In addition, if the pilot is to be implemented, it should be implemented on a smaller scale, focusing on provinces and cities with urgent housing needs, not expanding nationwide.

Delegate Yen also suggested that the Government needs to assess the impact, avoid the situation of "taking advantage of policies to collect agricultural land" or "legalizing violations", in order to come up with stricter, more reasonable and effective regulations.

Expressing the view that it is necessary to re-evaluate the current situation of NƠTM in all localities, Deputy Nguyen Thi Thu Ha (Quang Ninh delegation) affirmed that there are still many projects, works, and NƠTM that have not been filled, are left empty, are not completed, and have not completed legal procedures. Supply and demand of the NƠTM market still depends on each locality and "not every locality has demand".

Delegate Ha suggested that there must be an assessment of the current situation of the New Rural Area to understand the supply and demand of the market in the localities before approving the draft. The Government and relevant agencies must have a thorough assessment; consider whether the pilot should choose a region or a suitable locality or area and must have a specific address.

"The pilot project as proposed in the draft may lead to the formation of organizations, individuals, and real estate business organizations that take advantage of buying and selling, then transferring, collecting, and merging land, not using land effectively, then profiting and turning production materials into inputs to wait for the implementation of the New Rural Development project," Ms. Ha warned.

In the review report, Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh also said that there were opinions in the committee that were concerned that allowing agreements to receive land use rights other than residential land for the purpose of implementing NƠTM projects would lead to price fever for agricultural land and other types of land. This could cause many difficulties for people and businesses, as well as the State when it needs to reclaim and compensate for land.

The Chairman of the Economic Committee proposed that the Government review and clarify the application of the pilot mechanism through agreements to receive the right to use or have the right to use agricultural and non-agricultural land (commercial and service) to avoid policy abuse.

Avoid rampant conversions

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Phuong Tuan agreed that the resolution should be implemented nationwide to ensure fairness among localities, avoid complications in regulating criteria and conditions, and avoid the emergence of a "request-grant" mechanism. However, he suggested that the drafting agency have specific regulations to avoid the situation where, after the regulations come into effect, widespread land use conversion affects not only social security but also food security.

Review land use plans of each locality

Deputy Nguyen Truc Son (Ben Tre delegation) said that the draft resolution has some points that are different from the Investment Law (amended), Land Law (amended), and Housing Law (amended) recently passed by the National Assembly. When piloting the project, it is necessary to review the national land use planning, land use plans, especially local land use plans. If projects that are not included in the residential land and urban land planning are piloted, will they be feasible?

Mr. LE HOANG CHAU , Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA):

Detailed regulations on determining investment areas

HoREA has made recommendations to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and relevant departments to comment on Decision 83/2024/QD-DT of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Accordingly, it is necessary to consider and amend the provisions in Clause 1, Article 2 in the direction of detailing the determination of areas where real estate and housing project investors are allowed to transfer land use rights with technical infrastructure to individuals to build their own houses in the commune, excluding towns in the 5 districts of Binh Chanh, Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Can Gio and not subject to land use rights auction to invest in housing construction projects according to regulations.

Because, according to Clause 6, Article 31 of the Law on Real Estate Business 2023, real estate project investors and housing construction investment projects are allowed to transfer land use rights with technical infrastructure for land not located in wards, districts, cities of special-class, class I, class II and class III urban areas; not subject to land use rights auction for investment in housing construction projects according to the provisions of the Land Law. For the remaining areas, the Provincial People's Committee shall, based on local conditions, determine the areas where project investors are allowed to transfer land use rights with technical infrastructure for individuals to build their own houses.

Mr. NGO DUC SON , General Director of DRH Holdings Joint Stock Company:

Creating opportunities for home buyers

Up to now, to implement projects, the implementation of NƠTM must meet the following conditions: compliance with district-level land use planning; compliance with construction planning, urban planning; compliance with approved local housing development programs and plans. Practice shows that the overlap and contradiction between the Land Law and the Housing Law are increasing, the capital and real estate markets are distorted, and the risks for both businesses and investors, and people with increasing housing needs are increasing. The Government's proposal to pilot will unblock the capital market, help stabilize and reduce the financial burden in the use of capital for businesses, shorten the time and cost of preparing for project investment; make the market transparent and create opportunities for home buyers to access affordable housing supply. Untying this bottleneck can help "save" millions of businesses that have been waiting for many years.

S. Nhung wrote

Source: https://nld.com.vn/go-kho-nguon-cung-bat-dong-san-196241116212105284.htm