Building a land price list is an issue that is attracting great attention as the time of application is approaching. In Hanoi, the new land price list has been approved, expected to be applied from January 1, 2026, with the highest increase of up to 26%.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association - said that the construction of land price lists in localities, including Hanoi, is based on the provisions of the Land Law. Localities closely follow the legal framework to adjust and issue price lists applicable from January 1, 2026.
Mr. Dinh assessed that in principle, localities are not wrong to build price lists close to the market in accordance with the spirit of the law. However, the current concept of "market price" still has many points to consider, because the real estate market is experiencing an imbalance between supply and demand, especially a serious lack of affordable housing, rental housing, and social housing. Only a few projects that have overcome prolonged legal procedures have been launched on the market, becoming rare goods, causing prices to increase significantly.
During the price survey, many market data did not accurately reflect the real value. Some cases declare low prices when transacting to reduce taxes; on the contrary, there are also transactions that are pushed up in price to create a new level. In order to assess the value of the property, the investor will have to pay the property according to the regulations. Using this data to build a price list may not be appropriate.
According to Mr. Dinh, if the land price list is issued at too high a level, the consequences can directly affect the people. Land-related costs such as registration fees, land use fees, land use conversion fees, etc. have all increased, causing difficulties for people when exercising land rights. He cited that many households with garden land in the campus want to change the purpose to residential land to build a house for their children, which has a huge cost, beyond their ability. This is unreasonable, because most of them are low-income households; if the conversion cost is equivalent to buying land outside the market, it is not suitable.
For businesses, a high price list will increase compensation costs, site clearance and land use fees, making the investment problem less attractive. In localities that have to rely on land funds to attract investment and develop the economy, high costs can cause capital flow to narrow, project progress to slow down or stagnate.
The group of production and business enterprises that need to rent premises will also be affected similarly. High land rental prices will increase input costs, causing product prices to increase, reducing competitiveness in the context of cheap imported goods flooding into the market.
Mr. Dinh said that localities expect a high land price list to help increase budget revenue. However, if the increase in costs reduces investment activities and production and business development, actual revenue may be lower than expected, even having a negative impact on economic growth.
Regarding solutions, Mr. Dinh said that before approaching market prices, the State needs to complete the transaction data system to ensure transparency and accurate reflection of real value. When there are not enough tools and data infrastructure, it is necessary to regulate proactively to avoid pushing costs too high, affecting people and businesses.
He also emphasized the need for flexible mechanisms for each group of subjects. In cases where people only change the purpose of using land in their family premises to build houses, there needs to be an appropriate cost calculation; while priority areas for economic development, commercial and service projects that create growth momentum also need to have harmonious land price policies to encourage investment.
According to Mr. Dinh, if the land price list is not carefully considered, it can have the opposite effect, causing investment activities to decline, budget revenue not to meet expectations and affecting people's rights. Therefore, the process of adjusting the land price list in the coming period needs to be carried out carefully, scientifically and based on an overall vision to ensure sustainable development.
