On the Government Portal, a citizen in Hung Yen wondered:
In 2002, Mr. N.V.D's family implemented the policy of consolidating land plots of the state, exchanging fields for other households in the village to make cultivated land. From 2002 to now, Mr. D's family has built a model of garden ponds and barns, raising pigs, chickens, muscovy ducks, ducks, releasing fish, frogs, growing vegetables, fruit trees; has not yet converted land. Now his family wants to convert the land use purpose from agricultural land to perennial crop land.
Mr. D asked, is his family's land plot eligible for conversion? If so, which agency should the family go to to file a petition?
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment answers this question as follows:
Clause 1, Article 121 of the Land Law stipulates:
1. Cases of changing land use purposes that must be permitted by competent state agencies include:
a) Converting rice land, special-use forest land, protection forest land, and production forest land to other types of land in the agricultural land group;
b) Converting agricultural land to non-agricultural land;
c) Converting other types of land to concentrated livestock land when implementing large-scale concentrated livestock projects;
d) Converting non-agricultural land allocated by the State without land use fees to other types of non-agricultural land allocated by the State with land use fees or for land lease;
e) Converting non-agricultural land that is not residential land to residential land;
e) Converting land for construction of public works, land used for public purposes with business purposes to non-agricultural production and business land;
g) Converting non-agricultural production and business land that is not commercial or service land to commercial or service land".
Clause 5, Article 116 of the Land Law stipulates the basis for land allocation, land lease, and permission to change land use purposes:
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 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 6, Article 44 of Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP dated July 30, 2024 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Land Law (supplemented in Clause 6, Article 4 of Decree No. 226/2025/ND-CP dated August 15, 2025 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law) stipulates:
6. Supplement Article 44 after Article 43 as follows:
Article 44. 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 the law on investment
The basis for land allocation, land lease, and permission to change land use purposes for cases that are not subject to investment policy approval, investor approval according to investment law is commune-level land use planning or planning established according to the provisions of urban and rural planning law approved by competent authorities".
Article 122 of the Land Law stipulates the conditions for land allocation, land lease, and permission to change land use purposes.
Clause 2, Article 22 of Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP dated June 12, 2025 of the Government stipulating the decentralization of authority of local authorities at 2 levels, decentralization of power and decentralization in the field of land stipulates:
2. Commune-level administrative units after arrangement are allowed to continue to use district-level land use plans, district-level annual land use plans or plans prepared according to the provisions of law on urban and rural planning that have been approved by competent state agencies according to the provisions of law before July 1, 2025 in the area or land use targets in the land allocation and zoning plan of provincial planning allocated to commune-level administrative units after arrangement to serve as a basis for implementing state management tasks on land until the completion of review, planning, and land use plans according to new administrative units".
The content reflected and his recommendations related to specific cases need to be reviewed and compared between the current status of land use that his family is using and the existing land management records in the locality, so the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment does not have enough grounds to answer him.
According to the provisions of Article 14 and Article 15 of Decree No. 49/2026/ND-CP dated January 31, 2026 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 organizing the implementation of the Land Law, the order and procedures for your petition are under the authority of the Provincial People's Committee; therefore, please contact the local land management agency for guidance and resolution according to the provisions of law.
