A number of Vietnamese lawmakers have requested the government to find proper policies to tighten management and to ban Vietnamese citizens from illegally representing foreigners in undersigning and transferring land use rights and hiring houses for foreigners, according to VnExpress.
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The request was made at the ongoing seventh session of the 14th National Assembly (NA), when land management and use was debated. The control of foreign ownership of houses has been a heated debate among the NA’s delegates.
Some delegates requested the authorities to impose strict sanctions on the misuse of land including some real estate projects illegally transferred to foreigners.
The rumors that Chinese took advantage of loopholes in Vietnamese policies to own lands in Danang begun to circulate since 2017.
Under the Vietnamese legislation, foreigners can buy apartments but they are not allowed to buy or own land. In order to evade the regulations, many Chinese gave money to Vietnamese citizen and had them undersign the procedures to own land, according to Zing.vn.
In some cases, after buying lands, the Chinese and Vietnamese individuals set up joint stock companies to build hotels or restaurants. The Vietnamese individual holds the title of the land but the de facto land owner is the Chinese.
The policy of allowing foreigners to purchase houses in Vietnam was piloted ten years ago.
To own a house in the country, foreigners must satisfy many terms defined in the Housing Law 2015.
However, with the buoyant real estate market and in order to avoid the possible risks of land speculation, the authorities have gradually tightened the control over foreign ownership.
According to the NA’s supervision reports, the system of policies and laws on land management and urban planning is coherent as well as detailing with all guidelines of the government in accordance with the 2013 Constitution.
