The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is currently seeking public feedback on the draft Land Law, which is expected to be presented to the National Assembly for comments in early August. One of the notable aspects is the proposed changes to regulations for issuing certificates of land use rights and ownership of land-attached assets, commonly known as land use certificates.

According to the draft, the State will consider issuing land use certificates for cases where land use involved procedural violations before 1/8/2024, provided the land has been used stably, without disputes, aligns with planning, and does not impact national defense, security, the environment, or structural safety. The Government will specify the detailed process for issuing land use certificates, redefining residential land areas, making corrections, and revoking or canceling previously issued certificates.

The drafting agency indicated that many land plots have been used for a long time but lack complete legal procedures. Issues also arise with land originating from agricultural and forestry farms, land after enterprise equitization, surplus land after office rearrangement, and land previously allocated by organizations to households and individuals for housing.

The draft stipulates that land areas previously allocated by organizations to households and individuals for housing before 1/8/2024 must be transferred to the competent authority for issuing land use certificates to current users as regulated.

Real estate in Thu Thiem urban area, 5/2026. Photo: Quynh Tran

Full listing of co-users on land use certificates

The draft also introduces changes to how information is recorded when a land plot has multiple co-users, multiple co-owners of land-attached assets, or belongs to a household's land use rights.

Accordingly, land use certificates must fully list the names of all individuals who share land use rights and ownership of land-attached assets. Household members will mutually agree on identifying the co-users and will be responsible before the law.

The Land Law 2024 stipulates that in cases of multiple co-users of land or co-ownership of assets, each person is issued a separate certificate. If requested, parties can be issued a single joint certificate, given to a representative.

The draft maintains the provision that land use certificates are only issued after land users and asset owners fulfill their financial obligations. Exceptions apply to cases exempt from financial obligations, those granted waivers, debt deferrals, or annual land rental payments, who do not need to meet this condition.

Electronic land use certificates hold equal value to physical ones

Another new point is the clear regulation that land use certificates include both physical and electronic forms. Electronic land use certificates will have the same legal validity as physical ones.

The Land Law 2024 only stipulated that certificates are issued according to a unified national template, without distinguishing between these two forms. The addition of electronic land use certificates aims to support digital transformation, leverage the land database, and facilitate information sharing among management agencies.

The draft also mandates that the issuing agency must correct land use certificates if the recipient's information contains errors or if information about the land plot or land-attached assets does not match registration records or effective dispute resolution documents.

Cases for revoking land use certificates are largely inherited from the current law, including: the State reclaiming the entire land area; certificate exchange; new certificate issuance due to changes in registration; certificates issued incorrectly; certificates annulled by court rulings; or certificates requiring revocation for enforcement of judgments.

Land use certificates issued without proper authority, to the wrong subjects, for incorrect areas, conditions, purposes, durations, or land use origins will not be revoked if the recipient has legally transferred the land use rights or ownership of land-attached assets. This content was already regulated in the Land Law 2024 and continues to be inherited, not a new policy introduced by this draft.

The draft Land Law was developed based on a review of nearly two years of implementing the 2024 law, focusing on addressing practical issues and adjusting authority to suit the two-tier local government model.

Son Ha