Citizens sent questions to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to submit a land plot consolidation dossier: A land plot with residential land and perennial land with a term of use until October 15, 2023 and a land plot with residential land and perennial land with a term of use until July 1, 2024. Citizens ask according to Article 220 of the 2024 Land Law, are families eligible to merge the two plots into one plot of land?
Responding to this question, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said that, based on the provisions of Clause 3, Article 220 of the 2024 Land Law, in addition to the principles and conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 220, the merger of land plots must ensure the same land use purpose and land use term; in case the plots of land have different land use term, it must be carried out at the same time as the procedures for adjusting land use term to unify according to a land use term.
Specifically, Clause 1, Article 220 stipulates that the division and consolidation of land plots must ensure the following principles and conditions:
a) The land plot has been granted one of the following certificates: Certificate of land use rights, Certificate of house ownership rights and land use rights, Certificate of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land, Certificate of land use rights, ownership rights of assets attached to land;
b) Land plot is still within land use term;
c) The land is not in dispute, not seized to ensure enforcement of judgments, and not subject to temporary emergency measures by competent state agencies.
In case the land is in dispute but the scope of the disputed area and boundary can be determined, the remaining uncontested area and boundary of that land plot may be divided into plots of land and consolidated;
d) The separation and consolidation of land plots must ensure access; be connected to existing public transport routes; ensure water supply, drainage and other necessary needs in a reasonable manner. In case the land user reserves a part of the area of a residential land plot or a land plot with residential land and other land in the same land plot for a walkway, when implementing the division or merger of land plots, it is not necessary to change the land use purpose for the land area for that walkway.
