Compensation principles when the State acquires land

Lao Dong Newspaper Legal Consulting Office replied:

Article 91 of the 2024 Land Law (effective from August 2024) stipulates the principles of compensation, support and resettlement when the State acquires land as follows:

1. Compensation, support and resettlement when the State acquires land must ensure democracy, objectivity, fairness, publicity, transparency, timeliness and compliance with the law; for the common benefit, sustainable, civilized and modern development of the community and locality; pay attention to social policy subjects and subjects directly involved in agricultural production.

2. Land compensation is carried out by allocating land with the same purpose of use as the type of land recovered. In case there is no land for compensation, compensation shall be made in cash according to the specific land price of the type of land recovered as decided by the People's Committee at the competent level at the time of approving the compensation, support and resettlement plan. In case the person whose land is recovered is compensated in land or housing but has a need for compensation in cash, he/she shall be compensated in cash according to the wishes registered when preparing the compensation, support and resettlement plan.

For people whose land is recovered, if there is a need and the locality has conditions for land and housing funds, compensation will be considered with land of a different purpose than the type of recovered land or with housing.

3. Property owners who suffer property damage as prescribed by civil law shall be compensated for the damage; owners of production and business establishments that must stop production and business due to land acquisition by the State shall be considered for support.

4. The State has the responsibility to support people whose land is recovered and property owners to create conditions for people whose land is recovered and property owners to have jobs, income, and stabilize their lives and production.

5. The resettlement area must complete the conditions of technical infrastructure and synchronous social infrastructure according to the detailed planning approved by the competent authority; at the same time, it must be consistent with the cultural traditions, customs and practices of the residential community where the land is recovered. The resettlement area can be arranged for one or more projects.

6. Provincial and district People's Committees are responsible for organizing the establishment and implementation of resettlement projects to ensure proactive resettlement arrangements for people whose land is recovered. Approval of compensation, support, and resettlement plans and resettlement arrangements must be completed before a decision on land recovery is made.

7. When the State recovers land according to the provisions of Articles 78 and 79 of this Law, and the remaining area of ​​the land plot after recovery is smaller than the minimum area prescribed by the Provincial People's Committee on the minimum area in Clause 2, Article 220 of this Law, if the land user agrees to recover the land, the People's Committee at the competent level shall decide to recover the land and carry out compensation, support, and management of this land area according to the provisions of law.

Compensation and support costs in case of land recovery as prescribed in this clause shall be included in the compensation, support and resettlement costs of the investment project.

Thus, compensation when the State acquires land must comply with the above principles.