Vietnam: Pilot implementation of commercial housing projects

Resolution 171 allows land users (including those who will acquire the land use rights), in relation to agricultural land, nonagricultural land and/or mixed-use land, to have the flexibility of using such land for the development of commercial housing projects. This is expected to help address the housing supply shortage problem of major cities, such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

On 1 April 2025, the government approved Decree 75/2025/ND-CP ("Decree 75") with immediate effect, providing guidance for the implementation of Resolution 171. In particular, Decree 75 specifies the procedures, conditions and criteria to select the projects eligible for the pilot scheme. Accordingly, the authorities of both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have taken the initial steps to review and evaluate applications from investors of commercial housing projects, pursuant to Resolution 171 and Decree 75.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), Resolution 171 and Decree 75 have "filled the gap in the land laws" by specifying the procedures, conditions and criteria to evaluate the available unused land for the development of commercial housing projects.

Key takeaways

• Resolution 171 and Decree 75 specify the procedures, conditions and criteria for the development of commercial housing projects on existing nonresidential land, or for the future acquisition of nonresidential land.
• The investors can agree to receive land use rights for agricultural land, nonagricultural land, that is not residential land, and other land in the same plot to  be eligible to develop commercial housing projects.
• The provincial people's committee will assess the registered land qualified for the development of commercial housing projects and submit to the provincial people's council for the approval of the list of the land areas for the implementation of such pilot projects.

In more detail 

Nonresidential land areas eligible for the pilot scheme of commercial housing projects

• The conditions for land areas to be selected for the pilot scheme are as follows:[1]
  • The land area/land plot must align with the district-level land use planning, construction planning or urban planning criteria.
  • The land area/land plot must align with the approved local housing development program and plan criteria.
  • The land area/land plot must be included in the list of land areas designated for the implementation of the pilot project approved by the provincial people's council.
  • The land area/land plot must not be included in the list of works and projects for which land repossession is required (and which have been approved by the provincial people's council), e.g., land recovery projects for auctioning land use rights and bidding to select investors to implement projects using land, and projects that require converting land use to areas of rice-growing land, special-use forest land, protective forest land and/or production forest land.
  • The agreement for receiving land use rights to implement the pilot project for the designated land area/land plot has been approved, in writing, by the provincial people's committee.

• The criteria for selecting pilot projects are as follows:[2]

  • The projects must be carried out in urban areas or in areas planned for urban development.
  • The total area of residential land in the projects (including existing residential land and land proposed for conversion to residential land) must not exceed 30% of the residential land area planned for increase under the planning period (compared to the current status of residential land use) according to the approved land allocation and zoning plan in the provincial planning period of 2021 - 2030.
• The following projects would not qualify to be selected for the pilot scheme:
  • Projects approved under public investment laws
  • Projects approved in accordance with a public-private partnership
  • Projects approved by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister
  • Projects with land in a contaminated area or that is threatened by natural disasters

Procedures for selecting, approving and implementing the pilot projects

• The land authorities at the provincial level shall issue a public notice to invite investors with prospective projects to register their participation in the pilot scheme under Resolution 171. This notice will be published on the websites of the provincial people's committees and the provincial land authorities.[3]
• Investors wishing to participate in the pilot commercial housing project must submit their application to the provincial land authority.[4]
• Once the provincial people's council approves the list of land plots designated for the pilot implementation of commercial housing projects, the provincial people's committee shall publish this list on the websites of the provincial people's committees and the provincial land authorities.[5]
• Investors with approved land/projects will conduct the procedures for investment, construction and other related areas for the pilot implementation of commercial housing projects, except for projects that have obtained all necessary approvals for the pilot projects to be implemented on the designated or existing land before the effective date of Resolution 171. In other words, if the obtained approvals are still valid, the investors will not be required to reapply for any and/or all approvals mentioned above.

What's next?

• On 3 April 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) urgently issued Notice No. 1921/TB-STNMT-QLĐ on the registration of the pilot implementation of commercial housing projects, in accordance with Resolution 171 and Decree 75.[6] The deadline for submitting applications is 5 pm on 30 April 2025.
• Applications may be submitted via any the following methods:
  • Directly, at Ho Chi Minh City DONRE, 63 Ly Tu Trong, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
  • By post to the above address
  • On the National Public Service Portal/the City Public Service Portal, or the online administrative system of Ho Chi Minh City.[7]
• Hanoi People's Committee also issued Decision 1976/QĐ-UBND, dated 10 April 2025, to establish a working group and a support group to review and evaluate the criteria and conditions for the list of land areas planned for the pilot implementation of commercial housing projects in accordance with Resolution 171.[8]

It is estimated that there may be around 900 commercial housing projects, with more than 300 located in Ho Chi Minh City, registered to implement "pilot projects" with a land use scale of about 5,000 hectares. If so, the real estate market will have around 650,000 more houses supplied to the market over the next 3-10 years.[9]