Answering this question, Lawyer Tran Tuan Anh - Director of Bright Legal Law Firm - said that when a house is built on agricultural land, it can still be considered for conversion to residential land.
However, Lawyer Tran Tuan Anh noted that not just building houses on agricultural land will be "legalized" into residential land. According to point b, clause 1, Article 121 of the 2024 Land Law, the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land, including residential land, must be permitted by a competent state agency.
If you arbitrarily build a house without being allowed to change the land use purpose, this is an act of using land for the wrong purpose and may be administratively sanctioned according to regulations on sanctions in the field of land," Lawyer Tuan Anh said.
According to this lawyer, for cases of violations occurring in 2026, land users must comply with the decision to sanction administrative violations and remedial measures as requested by competent authorities.
After that, if the land plot meets the conditions for changing purpose, especially in accordance with the planning approved by competent authorities, it can still carry out procedures to request conversion from agricultural land to residential land according to Article 116 of the 2024 Land Law.
Building a house on agricultural land does not completely lose the ability to convert to residential land, but land users must handle violations first and whether to convert or not still depends on the conditions of the land plot and planning in the locality," Lawyer Tuan Anh said.
