Law 65/2014/QH13 on Housing (Vietnam)

LAW 65/2014/QH13 ON HOUSING

November 25, 2014

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly issues the Law on housing.

Chapter I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Law stipulates ownership, development, management, and use of housing; housing-related transactions; state management of housing in Vietnam. Transactions in sale, lease, and sublease on commercial housing conducted by real estate enterprises or cooperatives shall comply with regulations of law on real estate trading.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Law applies to organizations, households or individuals related to ownership, development, management, use, and transactions in housing and state management of housing in Vietnam.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

For the purposes of this Law, these terms below shall be construed as follows:

1. Housing means any building in which households or individuals live.

2. Separate house means any house which is built on a detached land plot under lawful rights to use of an organization, household or individual, including villas, row houses and detached houses.

3. Apartment building means any multi-storey building which has multiple apartments, public stairs, hall ways, private areas, common areas and common infrastructural works for organizations, households or individuals, including apartment buildings for residential use and mixed-use buildings for both business and residential purposes.

4. Commercial housing means any house which is built for sale, lease, or lease purchase according to market mechanism.

5. Official residence means any house rent by entities entitled to live in official residences as prescribed in this Law over the duration in which they are on duty.

6. House serving relocation means any house provided for households or individuals who have to relocate when the State withdraw land or carry out land clearance as prescribed in regulations of law.

7. Social house means any house provided for entities benefitting from the policies on housing support carried out by the State as prescribed in this Law.

8. Housing construction project means all planned pieces of work that are designed to use capital to build new housing, or technical and/or social infrastructural works for residential use, or to renovate or repair housing in a certain location.

9. Housing development means the investment in builing new housing, rebuilding housing or expanding area of housing.

10. Housing renovation means the process of improving quality, expanding area, restructuring of existing housing area.

11. Housing maintenance means the maintenance of housing on schedule and repair upon damages of housing for housing quality assurance.

12. Homeowner means any organization, household, or individual having legitimate housing through investment in housing construction, purchase, lease purchase, receipt of gift, receipt of inheritance, receipt of capital contribution, or exchange and other transactions prescribed in this Law and corresponding regulations of law.

13. Apartment owner means the owner of an apartment or the owner of other areas in an apartment building.

14. Vietnamese organization means any regulatory agency, armed unit, public service provider, political organization, socio-political organization, occupational-social-political organization, social organization, socio-occupational organization, economic organization and other organization prescribed in law on civil (hereinafter referred to as organization).

15. Private area in an apartment building means the interior area of each apartment or other areas of an apartment building which is recognized as the private areas of each apartment owner and private equipment in each apartment or other area of each apartment owner prescribed in this Law.

16. Common area of an apartment building mean the remaining area of an apartment building exclusive of the private areas of the apartment owner and shared equipment in the apartment building prescribed in this Law.

17. Lease purchase agreement means an agreement, whereby the lessee pays an option fee of 20% of a house, unless the lessee is able to pay an option fee more than 20% but not exceeding 50% of the house; the remaining payment shall be considered as the monthly rent over a certain duration; the lessee shall acquire the ownership of such house if he/she pays off the total amount when the lease purchase agreement expires.

18. Existing house means any house which has been completed and put into operation.

19. Off-the-plan house means any house which is under construction and has not been permitted to put into operation.

Article 4. Rights to have residence and acquire homeownership

Any household or individual is entitled to have residence through investment in housing construction, purchase, lease, lease purchase, receipt of gift, receipt of inheritance, receipt of capital contribution, exchange, borrowing, stay, or authorization for housing management and other transactions prescribed in regulations of law. Any organization, household, or individual having legitimate housing through the methods prescribed in Clause 2 Article 8 of this Law is entitled to acquire ownership of such houses as prescribed in this Law.

Article 5. Protection of homeownership

1. The State recognizes and protects the homeownership of homeowners as prescribed in this Law.

2. Any houses under lawful ownership of organizations, households or individuals shall not be nationalized. In case of vital necessity for national defense and security purposes; socio-economic development for national or public benefits, or state of war, state of emergency, or disaster response, the State shall decide the purchase, commandeering, or demolition of housing under lawful ownership of the organizations, households, or individuals, then the State must pay compensation and carry out policies on relocation to homeowners as prescribed.

Article 6. Prohibited acts

1. Infringing the homeownership of the State, organizations, households or individuals.

2. Obstructing the fulfillment of state management of housing, exercise of rights and fulfillment of obligations of the organization, household, or individual in terms of the homeownership, use of housing and housing-related transactions.

3. Introducing policies on residential construction projects or residential construction projects in contravention of approved residential construction planning, residential development planning.

4. Building houses on the pieces of land other than residential land; build houses in contravention of standards for design standards, housing area standards applied to each type of houses as prescribed. Applying the incorrect calculation of floor area prescribed in law on housing sale or specified in the lease purchase agreement.

5. Illegal appropriation of housing areas; encroaching upon the space and facilities under common areas or ownership of other owners in any shape or form; arbitrarily change the bearing structure or change the design of private areas in the apartment building.

6. Using the common areas and facilities under joint ownership or joint use for private purposes; use common areas or the areas for service provision in a mixed-use building for improper purposes against the approval of residential construction project or the approved project, unless such area is permitted to change purposes by a competent agency.

7. Using mobilized capital or advance payments for housing development for improper purposes.

8. The investor in a residential construction project authorizing or assigning the parties involved in investment cooperation, joint venture, association, capital contribution or other organizations, individuals to conclude agreements on housing lease, lease purchase, sale, deposit agreements on housing-related transactions or agreement on trading of land use rights in projects.

9. Making transactions in housing sale or transfer of housing sale agreement, housing lease, lease purchase, gifting, exchange, inheritance, mortgage, capital contribution, lending, and permission for stay or authorization for housing management not in accordance with this Law.

10. Renovating, expanding, demolishing the houses under agreements on housing lease, lease purchase, lending, permission for stay, or authorization of housing management without the consent of the homeowner.

11. Using the apartments not for residential purposes; using the area for business purposes in the apartment building under approved project for trading flammable materials, explosives, providing services causing environmental pollution, noise or negative effects on the lives of households and individuals in the apartment building as prescribed in regulations of the Government.

12. Using the separate houses for trading flammable materials, explosives, providing services causing environmental pollution, noise or other operations or negative effects on the lives of households and individuals in the apartment building as prescribed in regulations of law on requirements for business.

13. Providing information about housing inaccurately, untruthfully, inconfomably with regulations or requests of the competent agencies; destroy or falsify information in the database of housing managed by the competent agencies.

CHAPTER II. HOMEOWNERSHIP

Article 7. Entities eligible for the homeownership in Vietnam

1. Vietnamese organizations, households or individuals (hereinafter referred to as Vietnamese entities).

2. Overseas Vietnamese.

3. Foreign organizations and individuals (hereinafter referred to as foreign entities) prescribed in Clause 1 Article 159 of this Law.

Article 8. Entities eligible for the homeownership recognition

1. Vietnamese entities; overseas Vietnamese permitted to enter Vietnam; foreign entities prescribed in Article 160 in this Law.

2. Entities having legitimate housing through following transactions:

a) Vietnamese entities who invest in housing construction, purchase, enter into lease purchase agreements, receive gifts, receive inheritance, receive capital contribution, exchange houses, or make other transactions prescribed in regulations of law .

b) Overseas Vietnamese who enter into agreements on commercial housing purchase, lease purchase with enterprises or cooperatives conducting real estate trading (hereinafter referred to as real estate enterprise); agreements on housing purchase, gifting, exchange, inheritance with households or individuals; agreements on residential land transfer in the project on commercial housing construction which is permitted to divide the piece of land into smaller lots/plots for sales as prescribed.

c) Foreign entities who enter into agreements as prescribed in Clause 2 Article 159 of this Law.

Article 9. Procedures for homeownership recognition

1. If any organization, household, or individual is eligible for homeownership and has legitimate housing prescribed in Article 8 in this Law, the house shall be granted the Certificate of land use right, homeownership and property on land (hereinafter referred to as the Certificate). The house which is granted the Certificate must be an existing house.

2. Procedures for issuance of the Certificate to the homeowner shall comply with regulations of law on land.

With respect to the fixed-term agreements on housing ownership prescribed in Clause 1 Article 123 in this Law, the buyer shall be granted the Certificate within the term of the agreement; when the contractual term of the agreement expires, the homeownership shall be retransferred to the initial homeowner; the issuance or expiration of the Certificate shall comply with regulations of the Government.

3. The competent agency in charge of issuance of the Certificate must specify housing type and housing class in the Certificate as prescribed in this Law and law on construction; specify floor area and usable area regarding the apartment building; specify the name of the residential construction project approved by the competent agency regarding the housing in such project.

4. The Certificate of any house in the residential construction projects for lease purchase or sale purposes shall not be granted to the investor but it shall be granted to the lessees or the buyers, unless the investor wishes to be granted the Certificate pertaining to the house which is not under any agreement on lease purchase or sale; if the investor builds houses for lease, such houses shall be granted the Certificate.

5. In case the household or the individual has a multi-storey house whose each story has at least 2 apartments satisfying requirements prescribed in Clause 2 Article 46 in this Law, the competent agency shall grant the Certificate to every apartment in such house.

Article 10. Rights of homeowners and occupiers

1. If the homeowner is a Vietnamese entity or an oversea Vietnamese, he/she shall have rights to:

a) Enjoy inalienable rights to his/her lawful housing;

b) Use the house for residential purposes and other purposes not prohibited by regulations of law.

c) Obtain the Certificate of the house(s) under their lawful homeownership as prescribed in this Law and law on land;

d) Sell housing or transfer the agreement on housing purchase, lease , lease and purchase, gifting, exchange, inheritance, mortgage, capital contribution, lending, permission for stay, or authorize housing management ; if the agreement on housing gifting or inheritance is concluded with an entity ineligible for the homeownership in Vietnam, such entity is only entitled to the value of the house;

dd) Share the public utilities in that residential area as prescribed in this Law and relevant regulations of law.

The owner of an apartment building has the right to ownership and enjoyment of the common areas and infrastructural works of such apartment building, exclusive of buildings for business or transfer to the State as prescribed, and the agreement on housing sale or lease purchase;

e) Maintain, renovate, demolish, or rebuild his/her house as prescribed in this Law and law on construction.

g) Receive the compensation as prescribed in regulations of law or payment according to fair market price when their house is demolished, imposed compulsory purchase order, or commandeered by the State for national defense and security purposes; for socio-economic development purposes, or in the state of war, state of emergency, or disaster situations;

h) File complaints, denunciation, or lawsuits over violations against their lawful ownership and other violations against law on housing.

2. If for a person has a fixed-term homeownership as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 123 in this Law, he/she may exercise the rights prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article over the homeownership period, unless otherwise agreed among the parties; when the contractual term expires, the house which is under management of the homeowner must be returned to the initial homeowner.

3. If the homeowner is a foreign organization or individual, he/she shall have the rights prescribed in Article 161 of this Law.

4. Any occupier other than the homeowner may exercise rights to manage or use the house as agreed with the homeowner.