According to Decree 151/2025 effective from July 1, 2025, the authority to issue the first Land Use Rights Certificate is decentralized from the District People's Committee to the Chairman of the Commune and Ward People's Committee. This is a step in the administrative reform roadmap according to the two-level local government model in Hanoi, aiming to streamline the apparatus, clarify people, clarify jobs and serve the people better.
With the new mechanism, people only need to submit documents directly or through the Public Service Portal in the commune or ward where the land is located. The land officer verifies the status, publicly lists it for 15 days, then transfers the information to the tax authority.
After completing financial obligations, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune and ward will issue red books within 3 working days. The entire process only takes a maximum of 20 days, nearly half of the previous one.
In reality, many localities such as Tay Mo, Vinh Hung, Duong Noi... show a clear change in receiving and processing land records. Land officials are on duty at the one-stop department, providing detailed instructions to people, receiving records and reviewing the current situation on the same day.
Talking to Lao Dong on July 20, Mr. Nguyen Tien Hung - Vice Chairman of Tay Mo Ward People's Committee - said: The decentralization has helped the ward proactively handle many outstanding records. Eligible documents are resolved quickly, and additional instructions will be provided for problems.
However, decentralization also revealed many difficulties. First of all, it is the capacity of cadres: not every locality has a cadastral team that is knowledgeable about land law and experienced. Some new communes and wards after the merger lack both human resources and databases, making it difficult to process documents.
Many records related to land without documents, land in stable use but not registered, or in dispute. These situations require land officials not only to have a firm grasp of the law but also to have the skills to mobilize, mediate and closely coordinate with residential groups to verify the origin of the land.
In Vinh Hung ward, people used to call making red books " lost in the sea". Statistics over the past 5 years in 4 old wards (Vinh Hung, Thanh Tri, Linh Nam, Vinh Tuy) have only issued 76 red books for the first time out of nearly 200 records. With nearly 68,000 people on an area of 4.47km2, an average of less than 16 red books per year.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung - Party Secretary, Chairman of the Ward People's Council - frankly said: "As an inner-city ward, after 22 years of establishment, Vinh Hung is still "like a remote area". Limited traffic connectivity; slow issuance of red books, lack of construction permits cause many houses to deteriorate and temporarily deteriorate".
According to Mr. Dung, the key solution is to complete the 1/500 Detailed Planning to standardize the dossier for granting red books, granting construction permits and attracting investment.
"We aim to approve some plots of land with key transport projects before July 2026. If successful, Vinh Hung will be the first ward in Hanoi to publicly announce the 1/500 scale planning," he emphasized.
The movements in Vinh Hung show a new approach to reforming administrative procedures and managing urban areas at the grassroots level. Although it is not possible to resolve all the backlog, the public disclosure of the plan, regular and transparent dialogue of the process are gradually building trust among the people.
According to the assessment of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Environment, to implement long-term efficiency, the city needs to continue to complete the land database, connect with population data, tax data and the national public service system. This not only shortens processing time but also contributes to building a unified and modern digital administration.
The issuance of red books in communes and wards is a clear demonstration of Hanoi's administrative reform spirit. When procedures are brought closer to the people, more transparent and with clear control, people will benefit from real reform, not just on paper.
