In August 2024, in suburban districts such as Hoai Duc and Thanh Oai (before the arrangement of administrative units), land auctions were simultaneously held. The winning bid was recorded at an unusually high level when it exceeded 100 million VND/m2.
Notably, in Tien Yen commune (old Hoai Duc district, now Son Dong commune), a plot of land reached the auction winning price of up to 133 million VND/m2, creating a land "fever" in a short time.
However, after nearly a year, according to the reporter's records, many plots of land that have been auctioned have fallen into a state of abandonment and overgrown with grass.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Loc - a resident of Son Dong commune - said that this area had won an auction at 80 - 90 million VND/m2, even some plots suddenly increased to more than 100 million VND/m2. Meanwhile, the land price in the village is only about 50 - 60 million VND/m2.
"After the land auction fever, many real estate offices have sprung up. However, up to now, around the auctioned land, many offices have been closed and are no longer operating. There are units that rented my premises as offices, but after only a few months, they returned the premises, said Mr. Loc.
The situation of auctioned and then abandoned land continues in many other areas. For example, the land in Ngo Ba (Thanh Cao commune, the old Thanh Oai district - now Binh Minh commune) - where a series of overnight auctions were launched in mid-2024, is also in a state of abandonment.
In addition, in the land of Cao Xa village (Xuan Duong commune, Thanh Oai district - now Dan Hoa commune), dozens of plots of land have been successfully auctioned since 2020, but so far no construction has been carried out, posing a potential risk of wasting land resources.
According to the provisions of the 2024 Land Law, for land auction projects, the auction winners must ensure the completion of the project according to schedule but not exceeding 5 years from the date of land handover on site. If the investor does not put the land into use within this period, the land may be reclaimed without compensation for the land and assets attached to the land (except for cases of force majeure).
Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Nguyen The Diep - Vice President of Hanoi Real Estate Club - commented that the situation of land being left vacant for a long time not only causes economic waste but also loses the opportunity to develop urban landscape. According to him, the reason for the land being abandoned after the auction is the lack of synchronous technical infrastructure and society. In reality, in many areas, the lack of schools and surrounding medical facilities makes it difficult for people to have a long-term settlement need.
Mr. Diep said that to limit land waste, it is necessary to link planning with annual land use plans, adjusting them according to reality and the capacity of each locality. The auction should only be conducted when the area has appropriate infrastructure and based on the actual needs of the people.
To prevent abandonment after auctions, Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute for Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation said that when auctioning land, auction participants need to prove their legal financial capacity and clear land use purposes.
At the same time, the auction winner must commit to using the land for the right purpose within the prescribed time. If violated, the land can be reclaimed and the violator must bear legal responsibility, or even be reclaimed. Along with that, it is the responsibility of the management agency to let the auction end and then leave it fallow and wasteful.
