Citizens send questions to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment with the content:
It is proposed to provide guidance for cases where land users request an extension of land use progress as prescribed in point d, clause 2, Article 31 of the Land Law. Accordingly:
Land users who do not use land for more than 12 months or are slow to use land for more than 24 months, if they need to extend the progress of putting land into use, must have a written request sent to the competent People's Committee for land allocation and land lease for consideration and decision on extension.
From the above regulations, it is proposed to clarify:
In case the land user is an economic organization, and has been leased land by the provincial-level People's Committee (paying annual land rent or paying land rent once for the entire lease term), is the authority to decide on the extension of land use progress under the Provincial People's Committee or the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee?
For the case of annual land lease payment, in the context of implementing decentralization and delegation of power according to Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP and Decree No. 226/2025/ND-CP, is the authority to extend the land use progress assigned to the People's Committee or the Chairman of the Commune-level People's Committee or is it still under the authority of the provincial level?
Answering this content, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said:
(1) Determine the authority to decide on land use extension (because it is not allowed to be used for 12 consecutive months from the date of receiving land handover on the ground or the land use progress is 24 months behind the progress recorded in the investment project according to the provisions of Clause 8, Article 81 of the Land Law) as stipulated in the authority to decide on land allocation and land lease (according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 123 of the Land Law and point c, Clause 2, Article 31 of Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 226/2025/ND-CP): Specifically:
- Clause 4, Article 123 of the Land Law stipulates: "The state agency with the authority to allocate land, lease land, and allow change of land use purpose specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article is the competent agency to decide on adjusting and extending land use for cases where land users have made decisions to allocate land, lease land, and allow change of land use purpose before the effective date of this Law and cases of decisions to allocate land, lease land, and allow change of land use purpose according to the provisions of this Law".
- At point c, clause 2, Article 31 of Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP, amended and supplemented in clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 226/2025/ND-CP): "c) In case it is not yet time for inspection and examination to determine that the act of not using land has been for more than 12 consecutive months or the land use progress has been delayed for more than 24 months, the time to calculate land use extension is no more than 24 months from the date the competent authority allocating land or leasing land decides to extend. The decision to extend the land use progress of the competent authority is issued within 30 days from the date of receiving the inspection result report or inspection conclusion if the land user has a written request.
The decision to extend the land use progress must clearly show the act of not putting the land into use or delaying the land use progress, the violating area as prescribed in point b of this clause, the time for extension, and the sanctions required for implementation".
(2) Regarding decentralization, delegation of power, and decentralization of authority
- In point b, clause 3, Article 10 of Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP dated June 12, 2025 (rectified in clause 4, Article 1 of Decision No. 2418/QD-BNNMT dated June 28, 2025) stipulating the authority of the provincial People's Committee to delegate power and decentralize to the commune-level People's Committee, the Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee:
“3. The authority of the provincial-level People's Committee according to the provisions of the Land Law is exercised by the Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee, except in cases where the project has multiple forms of land use in which the area falls under the case of the State allocating land with land use fees or leasing land to collect land rent at a time for the entire lease term, including:
...
b) Decision on land lease to collect annual land rent for cases specified in Clause 3, Article 120 of the Land Law;”
- Clause 5, Article 4 of Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 stipulates the handling of a number of issues related to the arrangement of the state apparatus:
The agency receiving the functions, tasks, and powers after arranging the state apparatus continues to carry out the tasks and procedures being arranged and carried out by the agencies subject to arrangement. In case the tasks and procedures are being carried out or have been completed before arranging the state apparatus but related issues arising that need to be resolved after arrangement, the agency receiving the functions, tasks, and powers is responsible for coordinating with relevant agencies to resolve those arising issues.
Based on the above regulations, the authority to decide on land leasing and annual land rent collection regardless of land users (organizations or individuals) from July 1, 2025 is under the authority of the Chairman of the Commune-level People's Committee, therefore, the authority to extend land use for cases of land leasing and annual land rent collection for all land users is under the authority of the Chairman of the Commune-level People's Committee.
