Fresh regulations on State land recovery

Question: What are the new regulations on compensation, support and relocation upon State land recovery?

Answer: Decree 47/2014/ND-CP (Decree 47) recognizes the right to compensation when the State recovers residential land from households and the individuals who are using it and overseas Vietnamese who own residential houses associated with their land use rights in Viet Nam provided that such residential housings were granted certificates of land use rights (LURC) or are eligible for issuance of LURC, house ownership and other land-attached assets.

Decree 47 specifies compensation methods for cases where residential land are fully recovered by the State or where the remaining residential land area after recovery is not sufficient for the recoveree to reside in.

If the recoveree has no other residential land or housing in the locality where the residential land and housing which were recovered, the State shall compensate the residential land and housing for relocation.

If the recoveree has other residential land or housing in the locality where the residential land, housing was recovered, the State shall compensate households and individuals in cash.

For economic organizations, overseas Vietnamese and foreign-invested enterprises who are subject to land recovery while using land for their housing construction projects, the compensation is implemented in accordance with the following principles:

If the recovery is a portion of the project land area but does not impinge on the continued implementation of the project, the recoveree shall be compensated in cash for the recovered land areas;

If the recovery is the whole or a sufficiently large part of the project land area, making the continued implementation of the project unfeasible, such individuals or organizations to implement projects or monetary compensations;

The projects that were put into commercial operations shall be compensated in cash upon land recovery by the state.

Households and individuals are entitled to convert such land use to residential land within the local land allocation limits. Upon conversion of land use purpose, such households and individuals shall perform financial obligations to the State.

Decree 47 also maintains compensation in cases of grave removal and land compensation for those having the land use rights in common, or housing and works compensation for those who are using the State-owned housings and some other provisions.

Decree 47 also concretizes and adds a number of provisions for the support and relocation of land recoverees to ensure the quality of their life is not adversely affected.

Decree 47 specifies the competencies and regulation on planning and implementation of relocation projects. The provincial People’s Committee has a particular obligation to specify the minimum rate of relocation to prevent low quality or too narrow of an area for current relocation.

Decree 47 takes effect from July 1, 2014 and shall replace Decree 197/2004/ND-CP, dated December 2, 2004 by the Government on compensation, support and relocation upon State land recovery./.