Of the projects that have just been updated, Phu My Hung Development Company Limited alone has 39 projects, concentrated in Area A - New Urban Area of Nam Ho Chi Minh City, in Tan Hung Ward and Tan My Ward. In addition, three other projects in the area jointly invested by Phu Hung Thai Development Joint Stock Company - a joint venture between Phu My Hung and three Japanese partners including Daiwa House Group, Nomura Real Estate and Sumitomo Forestry Group are also on the list.
Also according to the recently announced list, there are a number of other investors with approved projects such as Capitaland - Thien Duc with three projects in Cat Lai ward including Vista Verde (Lot Y2), Y1 commercial apartment area and Define (Lot Z2).
Previously, Ho Chi Minh City announced a list of 17 projects allowed to be sold to foreign organizations and individuals. These projects are all located in areas that do not affect national defense or security, meeting the conditions for foreigners to own houses. Thus, up to now, Ho Chi Minh City has 65 projects eligible for sale to foreigners.
Also related to the issue of foreigners being allowed to own houses in Vietnam, Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) said that he has just proposed adding a regulation to recognize foreign individuals who illegally enter, buy and own houses in Vietnam as "land users". This is one of HoREA's comments on amending and supplementing the 2024 Land Law.
According to HoREA, the Housing Law 2023 allows foreign individuals to legally enter the country to buy apartments or individual houses in commercial projects outside national defense and security protection areas, with a maximum ownership period of 50 years. Apartment owners have the right to use the land to build apartments together, while individual house owners are allowed to use the land to build houses separately.
However, the 2024 Land Law has not yet recognized this group as "land users", leading to them not being granted an independent land use right certificate, only owning houses and related land. This leads to inconsistency between the two laws.
In addition, the 2024 Land Law only allows people of Vietnamese origin residing abroad to receive land use rights, and has not yet extended this regulation to foreign individuals who illegally enter the country. Meanwhile, the Housing Law 2023 allows foreigners who have the need and financial capacity to own commercial housing through buying, renting, receiving gifts or inheriting in projects not in limited areas.
Therefore, HoREA proposes to add regulations for individuals from other countries who illegally enter the country to be recognized as land users and receive land use rights in housing projects, inherit or donate houses attached to land from inheritors, similar to people of Vietnamese origin residing abroad.
The Association affirmed that this regulation does not cause adverse impacts on legality or national defense security, because buying and selling is limited to announced projects, outside sensitive areas.
