I. Some new points of the Housing Law 2023
On November 27, 2023, the National Assembly passed Law No. 27/2023/QH15 on Housing amending and supplementing some provisions of the Housing Law (“the Housing Law 2014”) with some notable new points as follows:
1. No stipulation on the ownership period of condominiums
The Housing Law 2023 stipulates that the period of use of condominiums shall be determined according to the design documents and the actual period of use of the condominium as concluded by the competent authority.
Condominiums expire according to the design documents or have not expired according to the design documents but are damaged, at risk of collapse, and do not ensure safety for the owners or users of the condominium.
2. Requirement for fire safety conditions, issuance of house ownership certificate for mini apartments
– The Housing Law 2023 stipulates that individuals wishing to build mini apartments (residential units from 02 floors or more, with apartments on each floor, or from 02 floors and a scale of 20 apartments or more) for sale or lease must meet the conditions of being the investor of the housing construction project.
– Apartments meeting the conditions will be issued certificates according to land law (house ownership certificate), which can be sold, leased, or leased to purchase according to legal regulations.
– Apartments designed and built for lease on each floor must meet the requirements for fire safety for multi-story, multi-apartment personal residences.
3. Incentives for investors in social housing projects
The Housing Law 2023 stipulates that investors are exempt from land use fees, and land rental fees for the entire land area of the project. Investors are not required to conduct land valuation procedures, calculate land use fees, or land rental fees that are exempt, and are not required to submit requests for exemption from land use fees or land rental fees.
The Housing Law 2023 shall come into effect from January 1, 2025.
II. Some new points of the Real Estate Business Law 2023
On November 28, 2023, the National Assembly passed Law No. 29/2023/QH15 amending and supplementing some provisions of the Real Estate Business Law 2014 (“Real Estate Business Law 2014”) with some notable new points as follows:
1. No longer stipulating individuals’ rights to independently operate real estate brokerage services
The Real Estate Business Law 2023 specifies that from January 01, 2025, individuals engaging in real estate brokerage must meet the following conditions:
– Possess a certificate of real estate brokerage practice;
– Must operate within real estate service businesses.
This implies that individuals are not allowed to freely operate real estate brokerage services as they do currently.
2. Deposit collection, and payment regime for future-formed residential properties
The Business Law 2023 stipulates that project investors in real estate are only allowed to collect deposits not exceeding 5% of the sale price or lease-to-buy price of residential properties, buildings, or parts of floor area to be formed in the future.
Payments shall be made in multiple instalments, with the first instalment not exceeding 30% of the contract value including the deposit, and subsequent instalments must be in accordance with the construction progress but not exceeding a total of 70% of the contract value before handing over the residential properties.
The Real Estate Business Law 2023 shall come into effect from January 01, 2025.
