The Justice Ministry is currently evaluating the draft revised Land Law, which includes numerous adjusted and improved policies compared to the version the Government submitted to the National Assembly in August.

A new point in Article 38 is the mechanism for handling land allocated for investment projects that remains unused or is slow to be utilized. The State will collect an annual progressive fee, which will increase over the period the land is not used or is slowly used. If, after 60 months, the investor still has not put the land into use, the State will reclaim it. The specific fee rates, calculation start date, and method for determining the progressive fee are not detailed in the draft law; instead, the Government will provide guidance.

According to the drafting agency, this mechanism aims to institutionalize Resolution 21 of the Central Committee, which calls for policies to make land hoarding without use more costly than speculative benefits.

The Land Law 2024 currently stipulates that projects that do not use land for 12 consecutive months from the date of handover on site, or are 24 months behind the land use schedule stated in the investment project, are subject to reclamation.

However, developers are allowed an extension of up to 24 months and must pay an additional amount corresponding to the land use fee or land rent for the extension period. Only after this extended period, if the land remains unused, will the State reclaim it without compensation for the land, assets attached to the land, and remaining investment costs.

The new draft changes the approach by creating increasing financial pressure during periods when land is idle or slowly used, rather than applying a fee only during an extension period as is currently the case.

Real estate in the eastern Ho Chi Minh City area, 8/2026. Photo: Quynh Tran

Based on a review of the implementation of the Land Law, the drafting agency noted that current law does not clearly define "not putting land into use" and "24 months behind the land use schedule stated in the investment project." This ambiguity complicates the identification and handling of violations, especially for projects where land is abandoned and needs to be decisively resolved for reclamation.

During the feedback process, some agencies proposed clarifying the starting point for determining delayed land use, the period for calculating progressive fees, and the timeline for reclamation. The drafting agency incorporated this feedback by stipulating in the law the principle of collecting progressive fees and setting the reclamation milestone after 60 months; specific criteria, conditions, and calculation methods will be regulated by the Government.

The draft also excludes time affected by force majeure events when determining delayed land use for reclamation purposes.

The revised Land Law project is expected to continue to be considered and approved by the National Assembly during its October session.

Son Ha