On the Ministry of Construction's Information Portal, reader T.T. P wondered:
Regarding the issue of obstacles in issuing construction permits in Ho Chi Minh City, I have received specific answers from local authorities as follows: The 1/2000 scale zoning plan in Ho Chi Minh City has now expired according to the 2024 Law on Urban and Rural Planning and the general planning plan of Ho Chi Minh City to 2040, vision to 2060 approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1125/QD-TTg dated June 11, 2025 has not specifically identified urban and rural areas, so there is no basis for issuing construction permits.
In addition, based on Article 94 of the 2014 Construction Law (amended and supplemented in Clause 32, Clause 33, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14 and Point k, Point l Clause 1 Article 57 of the 2024 Law on Urban and Rural Planning), my case is eligible for time-limited issuance as prescribed.
However, on December 22, 2025, the City People's Committee issued Decision No. 29/2025/QD-UBND on decentralizing the authority to issue construction permits; regulations on the scale and term of existence of works licensed for term construction in Ho Chi Minh City, in which, Article 3 only stipulates the construction scale and term of existence of works licensed for term construction for areas with sub-area planning or functional sub-area planning, areas with detailed planning or detailed functional area planning approved by competent state agencies, without regulations for areas with commune general planning and City general planning.
Therefore, the Commune People's Committee has no basis to resolve the application for a construction permit for me. In this case, according to the latest legal regulations, what regulations will be used to issue a construction permit? Or do I have to wait until Ho Chi Minh City completes the zoning plans?
Answering this question, After research, the Department of Economics - Construction Investment Management (Ministry of Construction) has the following opinion:
According to the provisions of point a, clause 1, Article 94 of the 2014 Construction Law (amended and supplemented according to the provisions of clause 33, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/2014, point k, clause 1, Article 57 of the 2024 Urban and Rural Planning Law), the general condition for issuing a term construction permit is "Belonging to an area planned according to the law on urban and rural planning that has been approved and announced by a competent state agency but has not been implemented and has not had a land recovery decision from a competent state agency".
Therefore, for the specific case of your citizen, please contact the competent state agency for planning and issuing construction permits in the locality for specific guidance.
