Ministry proposes land-use certificates for handwritten property transactions

The proposal is part of amendments to the Land Law being prepared for inclusion in the National Assembly's 2026 legislative agenda.

According to the ministry, many land transactions conducted through handwritten agreements over the past decade remain ineligible for certification under current regulations, limiting owners' ability to transfer, mortgage or otherwise exercise their property rights and increasing the risk of disputes.

The ministry proposed recognizing land-use rights for transactions conducted between July 1, 2014 and Aug. 1, 2024, when the 2024 Land Law took effect.

Ring Road 3.5 connecting Hanoi and Hung Yen Province. Photo by VnExpress/The Bang

The draft amendments also address transactions involving land that is subject to future acquisition.

While landowners are currently allowed to transfer, donate or contribute land-use rights after a land acquisition notice is issued but before an official acquisition decision, authorities have reported cases of speculative transactions aimed at benefiting from compensation policies.

Under the proposal, recipients of transferred, donated or contributed land-use rights during this period would receive compensation, support and resettlement benefits equivalent to those granted to the original landholder.

The ministry said the measure would help curb speculation and ensure fairness in compensation and site-clearance policies.

The proposal also seeks to ease requirements for investors acquiring rice-growing land beyond ownership limits. Currently, investors must establish an economic organization and prepare a land-use plan. The ministry said these requirements create unnecessary administrative burdens and may not align with project implementation needs.

Under the proposed changes, investors with approved projects would no longer be required to prepare separate land-use plans for rice-growing land.

In addition, the draft addresses land parcels with complex historical origins, including encroached land or land allocated without proper authority, by proposing more flexible solutions based on actual land use.

Farmers working in a rice field in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Photo by VnExpress/Phung Tien

The ministry said that nearly two years after taking effect, the 2024 Land Law has revealed challenges related to land pricing, acquisition, compensation, administrative procedures and decentralization. Although 26 legal documents have been issued to address implementation issues, a number of bottlenecks remain.

The proposed amendments would revise about 65 provisions of the 2024 Land Law, focusing on codifying pilot mechanisms and expanding decentralization under Vietnam's two-tier local government model.

According to the ministry, the changes aim to reduce disputes, improve administrative efficiency and unlock underutilized land resources while ensuring safeguards against policy abuse.