The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment received a petition from voters in Dong Thap province with the content: Due to limited access to information and propaganda, many households have built houses on agricultural land. However, the procedures for converting land use purposes according to the 2024 Land Law are still complicated, causing difficulties for people. Propose that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment consider and provide specific instructions so that people can change the purpose of using agricultural land with housing to residential land without being fined, without having to restore the original state; at the same time, study and adjust the difference in revenue when converting land use purposes to ensure consistency, reasonableness, and suitability with actual conditions.
Regarding this proposal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has the following opinion: The 2024 Land Law stipulates the principle of land use as "correct land use purposes" (Article 5); people who violate land laws must be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or prosecuted for criminal liability, if they cause damage, they must be compensated according to the provisions of law (Article 239).
Therefore, the case of building a house on agricultural land without asking for permission to change the purpose of land use is a violation of the provisions of Point b, Clause 1, Article 121 of the 2024 Land Law and will be considered for handling administrative violations according to regulations for one of the acts specified in Articles 8, 9 and 10 of Decree No. 123/2024/ND-CP (regulations on administrative sanctions for acts of using land for the wrong purpose).
Accordingly, to change land use purposes without being fined, land users must carry out procedures for changing land use purposes according to the provisions of Articles 121, 122 and 156 of the 2024 Land Law, Section I, Part III of Appendix I of Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP dated June 12, 2025 of the Government regulating the division of authority of local authorities at 2 levels, decentralization and delegation of authority in the land sector.
The situation mentioned by voters is subject to consideration and issuance of Certificates in cases where there has been a violation of arbitrary change of land use purpose. The 2024 Land Law has stipulated the settlement of cases of households and individuals using land that violated before July 1, 2014 (Clause 3, Article 139).
Therefore, it is recommended that the National Assembly Delegation of Dong Thap province give opinions to the People's Committee of Dong Thap province to direct the review of each specific case as a basis for resolving voters' petitions according to the provisions of law and in accordance with the actual situation in the locality.
Regarding the proposal to adjust the difference in land use fee collection when converting land use purposes to ensure consistency, reasonableness, and suitability to actual conditions: Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has coordinated with the Ministry of Finance to study, absorb, and advise competent authorities to decide to include this content in the National Assembly's Resolution stipulating a number of mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles in organizing the implementation of the Land Law, specifically as follows:
In case garden land, ponds, agricultural land in the same plot of land with residential land determined when recognizing land use rights but changing the purpose of land use to residential land; converting from land originating from garden land, ponds attached to residential land but the land user separated to transfer land use rights or by the measuring unit when measuring and drawing a cadastral map before July 1, 2014 and self-measuring and separating into separate plots to residential land, the land use fee will be calculated at the collection rate of: 30% difference between land use fee calculated according to land price and land use fee calculated according to agricultural land price at the time of the decision allowing change of land use purpose (hereinafter referred to as difference) for the land area of land use purpose changed within the local land allocation limit; 50% difference for land area exceeding the limit but not exceeding the local land allocation limit by 1 time; 50% difference for land area exceeding the local land allocation limit by 1 time; 100% difference for land area exceeding the local land allocation limit. The above land use fee collection rate is only calculated once for a household or individual (calculated on 1 plot of land)".
