Land & Real Estate

Land use rights, not ownership

Article 53 of the Constitution and the Land Law treat land as the property of the entire people, with the State as representative owner and unified manager. What investors acquire is a land use right: a right granted for a purpose, usually for a fixed term, against a payment to the State, recorded on a certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land. Land Law No. 31/2024/QH15, in force since 1 August 2024, is the governing statute, implemented by a family of 2024 decrees and, since 1 January 2026, modified by National Assembly Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15. The framework, the categories of land and land user, the certificate and the authorities are set out in Land use rights and the Land Law.

Two consequences run through the whole chapter. First, the right is only as good as its form: land allocated against a land use levy, or leased with rent paid once for the whole term, can be transferred, sublet, mortgaged and contributed as capital, while land leased with annual rent generally cannot, although the buildings on it can be dealt with. Second, the right is tied to a project: the term, the purpose and the timetable are set by the investment registration and the land decision together, and land left unused can be recovered.

How a foreign investor gets land

A foreign individual cannot hold land use rights. A foreign-invested company can. For land purposes a company is foreign-invested only if it must follow the foreign-investor procedures under the Law on Investment, broadly when it is more than 50% foreign-owned (Article 3(46) of the Land Law); a company at or below that threshold is a domestic land user. Article 28 of the Land Law lists a foreign-invested company's routes: a lease from the State, a sublease of serviced land in an industrial park, high-tech park or industrial cluster, allocation of land for a housing project built for sale, a capital contribution of land use rights by a Vietnamese partner, and the acquisition of a company that already holds land. Buying land use rights directly from Vietnamese households, which Vietnamese companies can do, is generally closed to it. Each route has its own approvals, payment structure and risks, and the choice is usually made before the project is registered; the comparison and a decision guide are in How foreign-invested companies access land. Projects that ask the State for land without an auction or tender, or for a change of land use, first need investment policy approval, explained in Investment policy approval, and a deposit under Article 30 of the Law on Investment, covered in The Investment Registration Certificate.

What land costs: rent, levy and the 2026 price reforms

The State charges a land use levy on allocated land and rent on leased land, paid annually or once for the whole term. Annual rent is the land price multiplied by a percentage of 0.25% to 3% set by the province, fixed for five-year cycles with increases capped by reference to inflation. Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15 made two changes that every investor should understand: the land price table decided by the provincial People's Council, multiplied by an adjustment coefficient set each year by the People's Committee, now drives levy, rent and compensation in most cases; and lessees may generally choose their payment method, so a manufacturer on annual rent can convert to one-off rent and acquire transferable, mortgageable rights. The calculations, a worked comparison of annual and one-off rent, the land use tax and the link to land rent incentives are in Land rent, land prices and Resolution 254; the incentives themselves are in Investment incentives.

Industrial parks, housing and offices

Most foreign manufacturers never deal with the State as landlord. They sublease serviced land from an industrial park developer, or rent a ready-built factory, and their rights follow the developer's own lease and payment method under Article 202 of the Land Law. Park selection is therefore a due diligence exercise on the developer as much as a commercial negotiation, and since 1 October 2025 a park location no longer brings a corporate income tax incentive on its own. Zone types, the role of management boards, the Article 28 special investment procedure and a lease checklist are in Industrial parks and economic zones.

Foreign individuals and foreign-invested companies may own homes in commercial housing projects, within caps of 30% of the apartments in a building and 250 houses in a ward-level area, and an individual's ownership lasts 50 years, renewable once. A draft amendment published in September 2026 would bar foreigners from villas and townhouses. Offices are leased under the Civil Code and the Law on Real Estate Business, and a residential apartment cannot serve as a company's head office. These rules are in Housing and offices for foreigners.

Protecting the investment: title, security and recovery

Before buying, leasing or lending against land, the investor checks the certificate against the land register, the planning status, the term and payment position, encumbrances, construction permits and completion records. Mortgages of land use rights may be granted only to credit institutions licensed to operate in Vietnam, must be notarised and are registered with the land registration office under Decree No. 99/2022/ND-CP, so offshore lenders rely on onshore security agents. The method and a checklist are in Title due diligence and security over land.

The State may recover land for defence and security, for socio-economic development in the 31 cases in Article 79 of the Land Law and the cases Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15 added, and for violations, including land left unused for 12 months or 24 months behind schedule. Compensation is now based on the price table and coefficient, and a lessee on annual rent is compensated for its remaining investment and assets rather than for the land. The procedure, the timelines, the complaint routes and the use of investment guarantees are in Land recovery, compensation and non-use, with the treaty position in Investment guarantees and treaties.

Developing real estate, and what is coming next

Developing property for sale or lease is a conditional business line for foreign investors and a regulated activity for everyone under Law No. 29/2023/QH15 on Real Estate Business. A developer must be an enterprise with equity of at least 20% of the project's investment capital, or 15% for projects of 20 hectares or more; a majority foreign-owned developer may build for sale, lease and lease-purchase on land allocated or leased to it, but may collect no more than 50% of the price of off-plan housing before handover. Off-plan sales need a bank guarantee, and projects can be transferred only on conditions. The rules and the structures foreign developers use in practice are in Real estate business and development projects, with acquisitions of project companies in Chapter 8.

The regime is about to move again. An amended Land Law, released in draft on 20 July 2026, is before the National Assembly at its October 2026 session with a proposed effective date of 1 March 2027; it would remove the specific land price mechanism, change the treatment of unused land and widen the grounds for recovery. Investors negotiating land positions now should build the possibility of these changes into their timetables and contracts, and confirm the final text once it is passed.