However, this conversion needs to be done soon if we do not want to bear the sharp increase in costs from 2026, when the new land price list is officially applied.
New regulations make "residential land acquisition" procedures easier
According to Clause 5, Article 116 of the 2024 Land Law, households and individuals can apply to change the purpose of using agricultural land to residential land if the land plot is in accordance with the approved district-level land use planning, instead of having to rely on the annual land use plan as before under the 2013 Land Law.
This means that if the land plot is located in a residential area, or part of the agricultural land area is located in the same plot of land with residential land, people can carry out conversion procedures if it is consistent with the long-term planning approved by the district.
This is an important step of easing, because district-level land use planning is a long-term plan (10 years, vision 20 years), while annual land use planning is less flexible and depends on each specific year.
Not only is it simpler in terms of legal basis, the 2024 Land Law also removes the requirement on land use time, meaning people do not need to prove that they have used land for a long time, or the land must be located in the same plot with a house as before.
However, there is still a notable exception, with rice-growing land, people can only change the purpose of use after the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council is issued, to protect the land fund for cultivation.
Costs will increase sharply from 2026
Although the conditions for land conversion have been loosen, people need to pay attention to the time of implementation. According to the roadmap, from January 1, 2026, a new land price list will be issued, closer to market price. This will directly affect the cost of changing land use purposes, especially land use fees, accounting for the majority of the total cost to be paid when "roaming up for residential land".
According to Article 8 of Decree 103/2024/ND-CP, the formula for calculating land use fees when converting is as follows:
Land use fee = Land price of the land type after conversion × Conversion area - Current land value (if any).
Land prices to calculate land use fees will be based on the land price list issued by the State, and if this price list is adjusted to increase ( close to market price as in the new orientation), people will have to spend a significantly larger amount of money.
In addition to land use fees, people also have to pay fees such as fees for granting Land Use Rights Certificates, registration fees, file appraisal fees, etc. These are not small costs, which can be up to hundreds of millions of VND in areas with high land prices.
It can be seen that the new regulations in the 2024 Land Law bring favorable opportunities for people in converting land use purposes from agricultural to residential land. However, if they do not take advantage of the time from August 1, 2024 to before January 1, 2026 to complete the procedures, people will have to face sharply increased costs due to the new land price list.
This is an important transition period, and a "golden" time to carry out conversion procedures if there is a need to build houses, legalize residential land or prepare for legal investment.
