According to people and businesses, the implementation time of some construction investment projects is still long, through many administrative procedures, the cost of compliance with administrative procedures is still high.
To reform more strongly, substantially and drastically, in Official Dispatch No. 78/CD-TTg, the Prime Minister requested to cut down on construction licensing procedures for works in construction investment projects with detailed plans at a scale of 1/500 or works in areas with approved urban design.
According to current regulations, two groups of works must be granted a construction permit, including real estate projects (commercial housing, high-rise buildings, apartments, factories in industrial parks) and individual houses in urban residential areas.
For individual houses, the exemption of licensing or conversion to construction registration still has many concerns when the planning is not synchronous and lacks technological tools.
According to PV's research, in 2018, Ho Chi Minh City piloted the exemption of construction permits for individual houses in Tan Quy ward, District 7. The condition is that there must be a 1/500 plan (specific plan, basis for being granted a construction permit) of the ward, but in reality, there is no such thing as the pilot cannot be implemented.
In fact, unlicensed or "circumvented" works often seriously violate height, density, distance, exterior architecture, etc. While the handling and repair of completed works (usually located deep in alleys and alleys) is difficult.
Experts say that if licenses for individual projects are revoked, construction order control will depend entirely on inspection and examination.
The removal of construction permits needs to go hand in hand with improving the operational capacity of supervisory agencies such as construction inspectors, construction order management teams, and ward/commune People's Committees to ensure urban development is on schedule and urban aesthetics are guaranteed.
At the same time, it is necessary to increase sanctions if people and businesses deliberately violate planning; state management agencies may sanction, not grant home use rights, not complete construction, people and businesses violate and suffer property damage.
Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) - recommended that the planning system should be implemented synchronously, publicly and regularly updated.
People can easily access information and must take responsibility for illegal construction. Management agencies also need to increase market control mechanisms based on high-tech platforms, for example, management by project codes with interconnected databases.
At the regular Government press conference in May 2025, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Danh Huy said that the Ministry of Construction is reviewing the entire system of legal documents regulating construction licensing, decrees, and circulars issued by the Ministry.
"We also conduct a summary assessment of all construction licensing procedures of the people to decentralize to all localities" - Mr. Huy emphasized.
According to Mr. Huy, we create maximum convenience for people and businesses but also have to assess the impact on the issue of canceling construction permits.
"If the construction permit is abolished, people are free to build, but will this affect the legitimate rights and interests of other people and businesses?" - Mr. Huy raised the issue.
Therefore, to remove the construction permit, the Ministry of Construction will have to summarize and re-evaluate from the localities.
