This ruling comes as part of the draft decree being proposed by the Ministry of Construction, which specifies and guides a number of articles of the Housing Law.

According to Item I, Article 77 of the draft, the provincial People's Committee is authorised to extend house ownership, at the request of an owner.

The owner must have an application detailing a specific period, along with a certified copy of his certificate of housing, and submit this to the provincial People's Committee for consideration.

The draft decree also mentioned the submitting of all documents that individuals and organisations need to verify that they are, in fact, the subjects mentioned and that they qualify for property ownership.

Further, individuals need to show a valid passport and prove that they do not belong to a group of people who enjoy special treatment or diplomatic immunity, said the draft.

For organisations, they must be the subjects for ownership, as stated in Article 159 of the Housing Law, and have their investment certificate or any valid documents showing they are lawfully operating a business in Viet Nam.

It is expected that the Government Decree will be issued in May, becoming effective on July 1, in accordance with the amended Housing Law, which was approved by the National Assembly in November last year with a separate clause on regulation on foreign ownership of properties in Viet Nam.

Under the amended Housing Law, foreigners are allowed to own a maximum of 30 per cent of the flats in any apartment building.

In case there are many apartment buildings for sale or lease, the purchase of such apartments in an area with a population equal to that of a ward-level administrative unit, foreign individuals or organisations would be allowed to own no more than 30 per cent of the flats in each apartment building and not more than 30 per cent of the apartments in all of the buildings. 

VNS