The Land Law was approved by the National Assembly in 2003 and came into effect as of July 1, 2004. In its initial plan, the Government aimed to complete the granting of certificates to land users in 2006.

However, in his report delivered at the NA session, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said that the granting of the certificate has been slow going, particularly for land of special use, land in urban areas and land for forest development. He attributed the slow pace to the inconsistent implementation of the granting of the certificate for all types of land at grassroots level. He said many localities did not fully understand regulations of the 2003 Land Law and relevant legal documents to implement the law. A lack of regulations on fees and surcharges relating to certificate granting procedures also slowed down the process. In addition, new housing tax levels and cumbersome administrative procedures caused difficulties for users.

According to Minister Nguyen, the Government will continue to finalise the legal system relating to land and housing to speed up the certificate granting process. Accordingly, the Government will submit to the National Assembly a resolution on granting a single certificate for both land and house owners (instead of two certificates as before). Administrative procedures will be further simplified with the minimum of inconvenience to residents.  

Deputies pointed out the fact that though localities have completed the granting of the certificate, many residents refused to receive them, citing 65,000 cases in Hanoi, 14,000 cases in southern Binh Thuan province and 6,000 cases in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai. They said many families could not afford to pay the current registration tax, which is 8-15 times higher than the 2004 level.

Deputy Ma Dien Cu from central Quang Ngai province said, “Many families, particularly those in suburban, rural and mountainous areas, cannot or do not want to get the certificates as the registration tax is beyond their financial capability. This will affect the residents’ legal standing as well as the progress of the granting.”

According to deputy Dang Huyen Thai from Hanoi, the Ministry of Finance should study and submit to the Government a plan, under which land owners will owe to the State the registration tax and right transfer tax if they want to receive the certificate for the first time.

“The purpose of the granting of the certificate is to manage land and the State should not impose heavy taxes on land users. I think the State should consider either reducing or abolishing fees and surcharges regarding the granting of the certificate to reflect the reality,” said the deputy.

Meanwhile, deputy Nguyen Danh from Central Highland Gia Lai province said the granting of two certificates (one for land and the other for the house) on a piece of land cause difficulties for land users when they join the real estate market. He said this does not meet people’s interests and needs for administrative reform.