People who need to separate or merge plots in Ho Chi Minh City are quite impatient because since the beginning of August 2024, land records related to this issue have been stopped receiving records by the Land Registration Offices of districts, towns and Thu Duc City (Ho Chi Minh City) because they are waiting for instructions from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to handle the separation and merger records.
It is known that the Draft Regulation on Land Division is being consulted by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) of Ho Chi Minh City. Accordingly, this draft of the DONRE has a new point in regulating land division with only two types of land: residential land and agricultural land. These two types of land must ensure a minimum area.
Accordingly, for residential land plots, area 1 includes Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh and Tan Phu; the formed residential land plot and the remaining residential land plot after the subdivision must be at least 36 square meters, with a frontage width and a plot depth of not less than 3 meters.
Area 2, including Districts 7, 12, Binh Tan, Thu Duc City and towns of districts, the formed residential land plot and the remaining residential land plot after separation must be at least 50m², with a frontage width and a plot depth of not less than 4m.
Area 3, including Binh Chanh, Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Nha Be, Can Gio districts (except towns), the formed residential land plot and the remaining residential land plot after subdivision must be at least 80m², with a frontage width and a plot depth of not less than 5m.
For agricultural land, the condition must be 500m² for annual crop land and other agricultural land; 1,000m² for perennial crop land, aquaculture land, salt-making land, and concentrated livestock land.
At the same time, land division and land consolidation must ensure access; be connected to existing public transport routes; and ensure water supply, drainage and other necessary needs in a reasonable manner.
In case a 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 separating or merging land plots, it is not necessary to change the land use purpose for the land area used for that walkway.
This is a new point of the draft that removes many obstacles, because while the previous draft required the separation of agricultural land, existing residential land, and existing residential land for renovation, it had to ensure conditions consistent with the 1/2000 scale planning. As for newly built residential land and mixed land, it had to meet the detailed 1/500 scale planning.
The planning conditions, especially for residential land in the previous draft regulations, received absolute opposition. According to experts, the drafting agency's "binding" of planning conditions is no different from prohibiting land division and is not in accordance with the provisions of the Land Law.
Lawyer Nguyen Dang Tu, TriLaw Law Office, said that this draft regulation has many changes in the direction of "untying" when it no longer classifies newly built residential land and mixed land, which are concepts that are not regulated in the law, especially the Land Law. At the same time, this draft also does not "bind" the planning conditions for land division. Compared to the previous draft regulation on land division, this draft is in accordance with the spirit of the Land Law, suitable for the people's land division needs.
