What is the minimum area?
Pursuant to Article 220 of the 2024 Land Law effective from August 1, 2024, the minimum area when dividing a plot is the area that the plots of land after separation must ensure according to the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee for the type of land in use. If the area of the separated plot of land is smaller than the minimum area allowed for separation, the consolidation of the plot with the adjacent plot of land must be carried out at the same time.
(Minimum area does not include construction boundaries and traffic safety corridors).
- The "minimum area" of 63 provinces and cities is different: The minimum area allowed to be divided into plots is regulated by the People's Committee of the province or centrally-run city, so the minimum area between provinces and cities is different.
Can land smaller than the minimum area be transferred to the red book?
Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 45 of the 2024 Land Law, land users are entitled to exercise the rights to convert, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, donate land use rights; mortgage, and contribute capital using land use rights when meeting the following conditions:
- Have a Certificate of land use rights or a Certificate of house ownership and land use rights or a Certificate of land use rights, house ownership and other assets attached to land or a Certificate of land use rights, assets attached to land, except for cases of inheritance of land use rights, conversion of agricultural land when consolidating land, exchanging plots, donating land use rights to the State, residential communities and cases specified in Clause 7, Article 124 and Point a, Clause 4, Article 127 of the 2024 Land Law;
- Land has no dispute or the dispute has been resolved by a competent state agency, a court judgment or decision, an arbitration decision or award that has come into legal effect;
- Land use rights are not subject to seizure or other measures to ensure enforcement of judgments according to the provisions of the law on civil judgment enforcement;
- During the land use period;
- Land use rights are not subject to temporary emergency measures as prescribed by law.
At the same time, in Clause 8, Article 45 of the 2024 Land Law, the cases in which land use rights cannot be transferred or donated are stipulated as follows:
- Economic organizations are not allowed to receive transfers of land use rights for protective forests and special-use forests from individuals, except in cases where land use purposes are changed according to land use planning and plans approved by competent authorities;
- Individuals who do not live in protective forests or special-use forests are not allowed to receive transfers or gifts of land use rights for housing and other land in protective forests, strictly protected zones, or ecological restoration zones in those special-use forests;
- Organizations, individuals, residential communities, religious organizations, affiliated religious organizations, people of Vietnamese origin residing abroad, economic organizations with foreign investment capital that are not permitted by law to receive transfers or gifts of land use rights.
Thus, it can be seen that the conditions for transferring or donating land use rights (or transferring the red book) do not specify a minimum area.
Therefore, land smaller than the minimum area for subdivision is still allowed to be transferred to the red book if the parties meet the conditions according to the above regulations.
