On the Government Portal, Ms. B.Y has a dossier requesting to change the land use purpose of 1,182.8 m2 of rice land to residential land.
Through inspection, it was determined that the land plot was in accordance with the general plan and zoning plan approved by competent authorities.
At the same time, on-site inspection showed that the land plot is adjacent to the existing residential area; the Southeast borders a drainage ditch about 2 m wide, adjacent to the outer side of the ditch is a residential area. This is a practical factor that needs to be considered in the process of determining conditions for resolving land use purpose conversion dossiers.
However, when considering Clause 5, Article 116 of the 2024 Land Law, there are still obstacles in determining the condition of "located in residential areas" because the concept of "agricultural land located in residential areas" is not yet specific, leading to many different understandings in the application process.
On the other hand, based on Clause 6, Article 116 of the 2024 Land Law and the provisions of Decree No. 226/2025/ND-CP, Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP, Resolution No. 66/3/2025/NQ-CP of the Government, for cases that are not subject to investment policy approval, the basis for considering allowing land use purpose conversion is determined according to the approved land use plan or urban plan, rural plan, and at the same time, in the transitional period after arranging administrative units, the use of previously approved plans is still continued as a basis for carrying out land procedures.
Ms. Y asked, so is her case in Clause 5 or Clause 6, Article 116 of the Land Law? What is the procedure for implementation?
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment answers this question as follows:
Current land law does not have the concept of agricultural land in residential areas, for land types in agricultural groups specified in Article 9 of the Land Law and the use of this type of land is specified in Article 116 of the Land Law.
At the same time, other relevant legal documents stipulate the concept of residential areas and rural residential areas to serve as a basis for determining agricultural land in residential areas, specifically:
Clause 1, Article 2 on wording explanation in Circular No. 124/2021/TT-BCA dated December 28, 2021 of the Minister of Public Security stipulating residential areas, communes, wards, towns, agencies, businesses, and educational institutions that meet the "Safety of security and order" standards stipulates:
1. Residential areas are places where people and households reside concentrated within a certain area, which is the common name of villages, hamlets, villages, hamlets, villages, hamlets, communes, residential groups, neighborhoods and equivalent residential units.
The Law on Urban and Rural Planning has specific regulations on rural residential areas as follows:
Clause 4, Article 2 on wording explanation: "4. Rural residential area is the concentrated residence of households connected to each other in production, living and other social activities within a certain area in rural areas, formed by natural conditions, socio-economic conditions, technical infrastructure conditions and other factors".
Clause 6, Article 17 on the responsibility of organizing the task of planning, urban and rural planning: "6. Except for cases specified in Clauses 5, 7 and 8 of this Article, the commune-level People's Committee shall organize the task of planning, commune general planning, detailed planning of rural residential areas and construction areas within the scope of administrative units under its management".
Clause 2, Article 29 stipulates that commune general planning includes the following main contents:
...c) Forecasting and determining economic - technical targets and targets for land use planning, network of rural residential areas;
... d) Orienting the development of the commune center system, rural residential areas.... ".
Basis for determining agricultural land in residential areas
The 2024 Land Law and guiding documents for the implementation of the Law have specific regulations on agricultural land types; the basis for changing the purpose of agricultural land use in residential areas, agricultural land in the same land plot with residential land to residential land for households and individuals is district-level land use planning or general planning or zoning planning according to the provisions of urban planning law approved by competent authorities.
Therefore, based on the above regulations to determine the scope and boundaries of residential areas, and determine the types of agricultural land in residential areas.
Basis for allowing land use purpose conversion
Clause 5, Article 116 of the 2024 Land Law stipulates: "5. The basis for allowing the conversion of agricultural land use purposes in residential areas, agricultural land in the same land plot with residential land to residential land or conversion of non-agricultural land types that are not residential land to residential land for households and individuals is district-level land use planning or general planning or zoning planning according to the provisions of urban planning law approved by competent authorities".
Clause 6, Article 116 of the 2024 Land Law stipulates: "6. Bases for land allocation, land lease, and permission to change land use purposes for cases not subject to investment policy approval, investor approval according to investment law are implemented according to the Government's regulations".
Clause 1, Article 14 of Decree No. 49/2026/ND-CP dated January 31, 2026 of the Government detailing and guiding a number of articles of Resolution No. 254/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly stipulating a number of mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles in the organization of the implementation of the Land Law on decentralization of authority to provincial-level People's Committees to implement in the field of land stipulates:
1. Provincial People's Committees have the authority to decide on land recovery, compensation, support, resettlement, land allocation, land lease, permission to change land use purposes, adjust land use terms, extension of land use, change of form of land use, recognition of land use rights, approval of agreement on receiving land use rights to implement projects, approval and approval of land use plans.
Based on the Law on Organization of Local Government, Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly on handling a number of issues related to the arrangement of the state apparatus and the actual situation of localities, the Provincial People's Committee decides on the decentralization and authorization of agencies and competent persons to perform the tasks specified in this clause to be appropriate".
This is a specific case, please have documents and records, accompanying documents to send to the land management agency in the locality for guidance and resolution according to their authority and legal regulations.
