A resident in Quang Ngai reflected that his family is using a land plot with an area of 2,600m2. According to the presentation, this land plot originated from land left by the previous generation, and was then divided among family members to use.
In the process of registering land according to Directive No. 299/TTg in 1983, in land register item 5b, the locality merged the names of some family members with a total area of 3,900m2, not separated into separate plots.
After his parents passed away, this person continued to use 2 land plots including a plot of 2,600m2 and a plot of more than 400m2. In 1996, the people were granted a Certificate of Land Use Rights (red book) for these 2 land plots.
However, according to reflections, the plot of more than 400m2 without houses was recognized as entirely residential land. Meanwhile, the plot of 2,600m2 with one church and one house was determined to be entirely garden land.
In 2021, people submitted applications to determine the residential land area for the 2,600m2 land plot but it was not resolved. The reason given was that this land plot had changed and was not registered according to Directive 299/TTg.
People request functional agencies to clarify whether this case is allowed to re-determine the residential land area according to legal regulations or not.
Answering this content, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said that this is content related to resolving administrative procedures on land for specific cases. When resolving, it must be based on land records and actual land management in the locality, under the authority of the locality. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment answers in principle.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Article 54 of the 1993 Land Law - a document effective at the time of issuance of the Certificate of Land Use Rights for the reflected land plot - stipulates that the Provincial People's Committee decides the level of land that each household in rural areas is allowed to use for residence for each region but not exceeding 400m2.
For places with the custom of many generations living together in one household or with special natural conditions, the residential land level may be higher but not exceeding 2 times the regulated level for that area.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said that based on point a, clause 1, Article 10 of the 2024 Land Law, the 2,600m2 land plot mentioned above has been granted a Certificate, so the land type is determined according to the issued Certificate. According to people's reflections, this land plot is identified as garden land, agricultural land.
In case the land plot has been granted a Certificate with a type of land belonging to the group of agricultural land, but after the time of being granted the Certificate, the land user builds a house on that land plot, it falls into the case of using the land for the wrong purpose that has been allocated land, leased land, and recognized land use rights by the State. This is understood as the act of arbitrarily changing the land use purpose.
When people request a Certificate for residential land, this case is considered according to the provisions of Article 139 of the 2024 Land Law.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also clearly stated that if the 2,600m2 land plot has the name of the land user in the Land Registration Book Form 5b issued together with Decision No. 56/ĐKTK dated November 5, 1981 of the General Department of Land Administration, or has one of the documents prepared when implementing Directive 299 stipulated in point e, clause 1, Article 137 of the 2024 Land Law, and has a house from before the time of first Certificate issuance, used stably to date, then it needs to be considered in a different direction.
In this case, the Certificate issued in 1996 may have not correctly shown the land use purpose at the time of issuance. At that time, it falls into the case of revoking the issued Certificate and re-issuing the Certificate after revocation to be consistent with the actual land use purpose, according to the provisions of point d, clause 2, clauses 3, 4 and 7, Article 152 of the 2024 Land Law.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requests people to study the above regulations, compare them with the specific case of the family and contact the commune-level People's Committee where the land is located for guidance and resolution according to regulations.
