Housing and offices for foreigners: who may own a home, the 30% and 250-house caps, the 50-year term, the purchase process, leasing homes and offices, and where a company may have its registered office

The framework

Housing Law No. 27/2023/QH15 took effect on 1 August 2024, together with the Land Law and the Law on Real Estate Business, and is implemented for foreign ownership by Decree No. 95/2024/ND-CP. It gives foreigners a right that the Land Law denies them: although a foreign individual cannot hold land use rights, a foreign individual who owns a house or apartment also holds the right to use the land under it for the period of ownership. The right is limited in four ways: by who may own, by where, by how many units, and by how long. Vietnamese citizens own housing without a time limit and without caps, and buy land use rights for residential land directly.

This section covers housing and offices as premises. Developing housing for sale, which a foreign-invested company may do on conditions, is covered in Real estate business and development projects.

Who may own, and where

Article 17 of the Housing Law lists three groups. First, foreign-invested companies that build housing under an investment project in Vietnam own what they build. Second, foreign-invested companies, branches and representative offices of foreign enterprises, foreign investment funds and branches of foreign banks operating in Vietnam may buy or lease-purchase commercial housing. Third, foreign individuals permitted to enter Vietnam may buy or lease-purchase commercial housing, in practice on showing a valid passport with a Vietnamese entry stamp and provided they do not enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities. Groups two and three may buy apartments and detached houses from a project developer, receive them by gift or inheritance, or buy from another foreign owner who acquired them lawfully.

Two limits on location apply. The housing must be in a commercial housing development project; a foreigner cannot buy a free-standing house from a Vietnamese family outside a project. And the project must be outside the areas that Article 16 reserves for defence and security, which the defence and public security ministries identify and the provincial authorities reflect in the list of projects open to foreign buyers. A buyer should ask the developer for written confirmation that the project is on that list before paying a deposit.

A foreign individual married to a Vietnamese citizen and living in Vietnam has the ownership rights of a Vietnamese citizen, without the caps and the time limit (Article 20(3)).

How many units, and for how long

Under Article 19 and Decree No. 95/2024/ND-CP, foreign organisations and individuals together may own no more than 30% of the apartments in an apartment building and, for detached houses, no more than 250 houses in an area with the population of a ward-level administrative unit. The caps are counted per building and per area, not per buyer, so in popular projects the foreign quota can be exhausted early; the developer tracks it and the land registration office will not issue a certificate beyond it. Housing received by gift or inheritance beyond the caps, or in a restricted area, cannot be owned, and the recipient is entitled only to its value (Article 20(2)).

An individual's ownership lasts as agreed in the transaction, but no more than 50 years from the date of the certificate, and may be renewed once for up to a further 50 years on application at least three months before expiry. An organisation's ownership lasts no longer than the term in its investment registration, including extensions. The term is written on the certificate. Before it ends, the owner may sell or give the property to anyone eligible to own housing in Vietnam; if the term expires without a sale or renewal, the housing becomes public property (Article 20(4)). Foreign owners should therefore diary the expiry and the renewal window from the day the certificate issues.

A foreign owner has the ownership rights of a Vietnamese owner within those limits: it may live in, sell, give, mortgage to a credit institution operating in Vietnam and lease out its home for purposes the law does not prohibit, declaring and paying tax on rental income (Personal income tax and expatriates).

How a foreign individual buys an apartment from a developer

1. Check the project and the quotaConfirm in writing that the project is a commercial housing project open to foreign buyers, outside defence and security areas, and that foreign quota remains in the building. Ask for the project's land documents, construction permit and, for off-plan units, the provincial housing authority's notice that the units are eligible for sale.
2. Reserve and pay the depositFor off-plan units, the developer may take a deposit of no more than 5% of the sale price, and only once the project is eligible for sale (Article 23(5), Law No. 29/2023/QH15). The deposit agreement states the price and area.
3. Sign the sale and purchase contractThe contract follows the model in Decree No. 96/2024/ND-CP. Payment is in VND by bank transfer; a foreign buyer usually pays from a VND account funded by remittance from abroad, keeping the bank evidence for a later sale and repatriation.
4. Pay by instalmentsFor off-plan housing, the first payment is capped at 30% including the deposit and payments before handover at 70%, or 50% where the developer is a foreign-invested company that follows the foreign-investor procedures (Article 10(4)); the last 5% is paid when the certificate issues (Article 25). The developer must provide a bank guarantee for off-plan sales (Article 26).
5. Take handoverInspect the unit against the contract specifications, record defects, and receive the building's operating rules; the management fee and the maintenance fund contribution become payable.
6. Obtain the certificateThe developer files the application with the land registration office; the certificate issues in the buyer's name, records the ownership term and the land use right attached to the apartment, and starts the 50-year period.
7. Register residence and taxDeclare temporary residence at the property as required for foreigners, and register for tax if the unit will be let.

The September 2026 draft on villas and townhouses

A draft amendment to the housing rules published in September 2026 would bar foreigners from owning villas and townhouses, confining them in practice to apartments. The draft had not been adopted at the review date, and its transitional rules for existing foreign owners and for contracts signed before any change are not yet settled. A foreigner negotiating to buy a villa or townhouse should take advice on the draft's status and seek contractual protection, such as a right to terminate and recover payments, if the law changes before the certificate issues.

Leasing a home

Most expatriates rent. A residential lease is governed by the Housing Law and the Civil Code, is made in writing, and need not be notarised unless the parties choose. Rent is generally priced and paid in VND, although payment of foreign employees' expenses has limited exceptions under the foreign exchange rules (FAQ 64). The landlord, or the property manager, must declare the foreign tenant's temporary residence to the local police, and a landlord who lets regularly must declare and pay tax on the rent. Practical points are the deposit (often one to three months), who pays building management fees and utilities, the notice period, and the landlord's title: a lease from someone who does not own the apartment, or from a foreign owner whose term is close to expiry, gives the tenant little protection. Where an employer leases accommodation for staff, the rent can be a taxable benefit for the employee, subject to the limits in the personal income tax rules.

Leasing offices

A commercial office lease in a building owned by a real estate business is a lease of a construction work under Law No. 29/2023/QH15 on Real Estate Business and the Civil Code. The landlord must be eligible to lease the space, which in practice means the building has a construction permit, completion acceptance and fire safety approval for office use, and the landlord holds the land for longer than the lease. Leases need not be notarised or registered. Rent and service charges are priced and paid in VND, except where the foreign exchange rules permit otherwise, and attract VAT at 10%, since real estate business is excluded from the temporary 8% rate (FAQ 22).

Terms that matter in Vietnam include the length of the initial term and renewal, rent escalation and the currency reference, the security deposit (commonly three months in grade A buildings, as a market practice), the service charge and its adjustment, fit-out periods and rent-free months, reinstatement on exit, early termination rights, the landlord's consent for the premises to be registered as the tenant's head office, and the landlord's obligations if the building is sold or mortgaged. The lease will be one of the documents the company files to evidence its address, and for a representative office or branch it is a licensing requirement (Branches and representative offices).

Registered office rules

Every company must have a head office in Vietnam with a full address, registered in its enterprise registration certificate under the Law on Enterprises (Setting up a company step by step). Article 3 of the Housing Law prohibits using an apartment in an apartment building for non-residential purposes, and business registration offices therefore refuse a residential apartment as a head office address. The commercial and service floors of a mixed-use building, a unit in an office building, and space in a business centre that holds lawful title to commercial premises are acceptable.

Serviced and shared offices are widely used for a first registered address, and the registration authorities accept them where the provider's premises are lawful commercial space and it consents in writing to the registration. The company must actually be reachable there: tax offices verify addresses, and a company found not operating at its registered address can have its tax code status changed, which interrupts invoicing and banking. A virtual address used without real presence is therefore a risk, particularly for companies that will hold work permits for foreign staff or apply for licences.