After the 2024 Land Law took effect, many localities issued guiding regulations on land division, including adjustments related to minimum area, infrastructure conditions and land use planning.
In Hanoi, the City People's Committee issued Decision No. 61, regulating important contents on land management and use in the city.
According to Lao Dong reporter, the above regulation is supported by many people, having a great impact on the real estate market, especially preventing the widespread subdivision and sale of land, preventing virtual land fever. Raising the minimum area standard helps ensure that new residential areas have a reasonable scale, avoiding the formation of small plots of land, lacking roads and synchronous technical infrastructure systems. This creates favorable conditions for urban and rural planning management, avoiding spontaneous development, and promoting investment in projects with systematic planning.
However, the above regulation also causes unwanted impacts on some people, especially families with many children who want to divide land for their children to live in.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (character's name has been changed), living in Lai Yen commune (Hoai Duc district, Hanoi) shared that before the new regulation, people here could separate plots from 40m2 with a minimum alley of 2m wide. However, according to Decision 61, the minimum area for land division here has increased to 160m2, with each plot of land after division must reach a minimum of 80m2, a minimum frontage of 5m and a minimum alley width of 3m. This makes it impossible for many households to divide land among their children because they do not meet all the conditions.
"Families with limited land areas, if they lack only one criterion (for example, the frontage is less than 10m or the alley is only 2m wide instead of 3m), cannot separate the plots. This makes it difficult to divide assets in the family. Like my family, there was also a conflict because we could not resolve the land division issue."
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, Mr. Phan Trong Loan - working at a real estate consulting office in Hoai Duc district - said that recently, there have been many cases like the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa. "People come to my office to work and ask a lot, but when the regulations are issued, they cannot be separated. Many families have many children but cannot afford to buy a new house for each person, often choosing the option of dividing land so that the children can build their own houses. With the new regulation, many households, even though they own large plots of land, cannot still flexibly use their assets because they do not meet the minimum conditions for wide alleys or minimum frontage" - Mr. Loan said.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Dung - an employee of a real estate brokerage company in Hanoi - said that the regulation of tightening conditions for land division reduces the supply of small-scale land in the market, pushing land prices higher.
"People who want to buy small areas of land to build their own houses will have more difficulty accessing them because they do not have many options. This can reduce real estate liquidity in affected areas, especially areas in the process of urbanization such as Hoai Duc. Some households may want to keep the land until conditions are suitable before dividing the plot, but during that time, they still have to pay land tax or face high maintenance costs. Being forced to keep the land intact can also affect the family's long-term financial plan.
Although the goal of Decision 61 is to prevent illegal subdivision and sale of land, it also causes unwanted impacts for many households, especially families with many children who want to divide land for their children to live in. I think, it is possible to consider adjusting the regulations in a more flexible direction, such as allowing the division of plots with smaller areas in the case of dividing land to children, then applying some additional conditions to avoid law evasion" - Mr. Dung said.
