Many people, due to lack of legal knowledge, have built houses on agricultural land and have to pay the price with money, works, and even land use rights. Current law clearly stipulates that this is illegal if the land use purpose conversion is not permitted.
Reality over the past time shows that many cases have forced the dismantling of works, losing all construction costs or not being granted land use right certificates due to illegal house construction on agricultural land.
Arbitrarily building houses on agricultural land may be penalized and land may be recovered
According to the 2024 Land Law, agricultural land can only be used for the purposes assigned, leased or recognized by the State. Housing construction is only allowed on residential land.
Article 121 of the 2024 Land Law clearly stipulates: The conversion of land use purpose from agricultural land to residential land must be permitted by a competent state agency and in accordance with the approved land use plan and plan.
This means that land users do not have the right to arbitrarily build houses on agricultural land, even in cases where the land plot is not in dispute or has been used stably for a long time.
Building houses on agricultural land can be fined up to tens of millions of VND
According to Decree 91/2019/ND-CP, the act of building houses on agricultural land when the land use purpose has not been changed will be administratively sanctioned, depending on the area and severity of the violation. Specifically, violators may be:
- Fine from 3 - 50 million VND, depending on the area and severity of the violation;
- Urban areas are fined twice as much as rural areas;
- Forcing the dismantling of illegal construction works;
- Forcing the restoration of the original state of the land;
- In serious cases, land may be recovered.
In addition, if construction is not licensed, violators may also be fined according to Decree 16/2022/ND-CP, with a fine of up to 50 million VND.
Paying fines does not mean legalizing the project. If the land use purpose conversion is not eligible, the project is still forced to be dismantled.
Financial obligations when converting agricultural land to residential land
According to Article 117 of the 2024 Land Law and Article 9 of Decree 45/2014/ND-CP, when allowed to change land use purposes, land users must fully fulfill their financial obligations.
How to calculate land use fees when changing purposes
Land use fee = (Housing land price – Agricultural land price) × Purpose conversion area
In which:
Land prices are applied according to the land price list or specific land prices issued by the provincial People's Committee.
The time of payment is the time when the competent authority allows the change of purpose.
This amount usually accounts for the majority of expenses when converting agricultural land to residential land.
In addition, land users must also pay:
- Registration fee of 0.5% according to Article 11 of Decree 45/2014/ND-CP;
- Administrative fees such as measuring, adjusting dossiers, and renewing certificates.
In fact, in many localities, the total cost of changing purposes can be up to hundreds of millions of VND, especially in urban and suburban areas.
Risk warnings people need to pay attention to
Many cases encounter risks due to believing in advertisements such as "land is about to become residential land", "build first and then legalize later". These are all information without legal value. People need to pay special attention to:
- Not to build without permission to change the purpose;
- Do not deposit to buy land without planning inspection;
- Not trusting brokers' verbal commitments;
- Proactively look up information at local land management agencies.
In the context of land law being increasingly tightened since 2026, complying with regulations is the only way to protect legitimate rights and avoid unnecessary damage.
