On June 19, Khanh, authorized by the Prime Minister, presented a project on amending and supplementing some articles of the Land Law, Housing Law, Real Estate Business Law and Law on Credit Institutions.

The government is seeking the National Assembly’s permission to bring three laws (Land Law, Housing Law and Real Estate Business Law) into life from August 1, or five months earlier than stipulated in an NA resolution.

The government has also proposed that two clauses of Articles 200 and 210 of the Law on Credit Institutions take effect on August 1 to ensure regulations on asset mortgage for loans are implemented at the same time.

As for the regulations in the Land Law, Housing Law and Real Estate Business Law related to the transitional period, the government has assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) and Ministry of Construction (MOC) to check current laws and assess possible impact.

According to Khanh, this aims to find solutions to institutionalize the provisions of the laws, help prevent difficulties for land, housing and real estate market management, as well as ensure benefits for institutions and individuals when joining the market.

Khanh said that if the Land Law takes effect sooner than planned, this will help settle problems in land valuation, land recovery, and compensation for site clearance and resettlement. 

These problems are believed to be the reasons behind officials’ hesitancy to make decisions in land and real estate market management.

Khanh said that after the 2024 Land Law was approved, localities built plans to choose investors and project owners for implementation until January 1, 2025, when the laws take effect as determined by the NA.

At present, localities are choosing investors and project owners in accordance with the laws enacted before the 2024 Land Law takes effect. In many cases, the implementation of procedures will last until that time.

If the 2024 Land Law takes effect five months earlier than initially planned, this may cause difficulties for unfinished projects, which means that enterprises’ business plans may be affected.

This will lead to an increase in law compliance costs, thus affecting investment. The business community may react negatively to the new law, especially investors of projects coping with problems in procedures.

Therefore, the government believes that it would be better if Clause 10 of Article 255 takes effect on January 1, 2025 as initially planned, to ensure benefits for investors and prevent waste of time and society’s assets.

Similarly, if Clause 4 of Article 260 of the 2024 Land Law takes effect on August 1, enterprises and relevant parties would have less time to fulfill procedures. Therefore, the regulation needs to take effect on January 1, 2025.

Khanh said that detailed regulatory documents have been compiled and built in a correct order. They have been reviewed many times, ensuring constitutionality, legality and feasibility when the draft that amends certain articles of laws gets approval.

On this issue, the chair of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee, Vu Hong Thanh, said the committee supports bringing the laws to life sooner than initially expected.

According to Thanh, some provisions of the laws can be applied immediately, and there is no need to wait for guidance from ministries, while other provisions need detailed guidance and explanations.

The government needs to prepare for law enforcement, and ensure the quality of legal documents that guide the implementation of the laws.

Agencies need to organize campaigns to disseminate new regulations, thus enhancing awareness of the law, and ensuring the effectiveness of the law from the date of enforcement.

A survey found that as of June 18 only one out of 16 documents needed for the implementation of the Land Law had been issued, while seven documents for the implementation of the Housing Law and four documents for the Real Estate Business Law had not been released yet.

The Land Law has relations to amendments of some articles of other laws, and there is content that needs detailed guidance, but to date the expected documents have yet to be released.

Thanh warned that if the laws take effect five months sooner, this will put pressure on agencies which have to compile legal documents that guide the implementation of the laws. This will affect the dissemination of the laws and campaign promotion of the law in localities.

Tran Thuong