The revised Land Law Project is currently being discussed and commented on by members of the National Assembly at the 4th Session of the XV National Assembly of Vietnam. A series of new and important policies that determine land issues in Vietnam such as land prices, methods of determining land prices, land transfer prices, and adequate compensation for people whose land has been recovered, have been discussed and commented on.

Clause 1, Article 16 of the Land Law 45/2013/QH13 (Law on Land 2013) promulgated on November 29, 2013 stipulates that the state can make a decision on land recovery in the following cases:

a) Recovery of land for national defense and security purposes; socio-economic development for national and public interests;

b) Land recovery due to violations of the law on land;

c) Land recovery due to termination of land use according to law, voluntary return of land, risk of endangering human life.

Among the cases in which land under the use right of the people is recovered, the land acquisition for defense and security purposes is especially legitimate. The majority of people whose land has been confiscated will understand the view and common interests of the country if they are compensated properly for the land under their right to use.

However, during the 10 years since the 2013 Land Law was formulated and promulgated, most of the State's land acquisition has been due to socio-economic development purposes and compensation for the land are unreasonable, not commensurate with the market value.

Therefore, people whose land has been recovered have protested and even filed lawsuits many times over the years, greatly affecting people's confidence in the State of Vietnam as well as the social order, through which affects socioeconomic development.

Proposed Solutions

The land transfer price in accordance with the law when compared with the market land price is too small and insignificant. Thereby, for this revised Land Law project, the regulation on building a land price mechanism close to the market land price has been paid special attention so that in cases where people have their land recovered or in cases of purchase and sale of land use rights, the buyer, the seller, the revoked party and the State's competent authorities will be able to cooperate and come up with an agreement in accordance with the interests of each party.

The need for this change is partly due to the fact that inflation in Vietnam is happening too fast, the value of the currency is depreciating, and the price of land as well as necessities in daily life has been pushed up. Thereby, not only the land price bracket changes, but the Government, National Assembly and the State of Vietnam also need to focus on solving the root of the problem, which is the problem of inflation, the value of the Vietnamese currency. Consequently, other issues that depend on the value of the currency can be resolved quickly, and efficiently.

As for the purpose of land recovery, according to the recommendations of many members of the National Assembly, the State should limit land acquisition for socio-economic purposes, and only perform land acquisition for national security purposes.

The development of the country, and the re-planning of old housing areas that were not planned according to the previous rules is necessary, but it should be limited. Currently, there are many cases of land recovery to build commercial zones, commercial houses, renovate old apartment buildings, etc. in the name of economic development, but it is not public, and transparent, causing frustration for the people, affecting the credibility of the State.

Thereby, the Government needs to clarify the conditions for land requisition and recovery for all purposes, avoid abusement of this mechanism.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.