REAL ESTATE LEGAL REFORM: THREE PILLAR LAWS AND THE NEXT STEP WITH VNEID

1. THE BIG PICTURE

The prolonged stagnation of the real estate market has been driven in no small part by inconsistencies and overlaps among laws governing land, housing, and real estate business. Accordingly, the 15th National Assembly’s successive adoption of the 2024 Land Law, the 2023 Housing Law, and the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business, together with the decision to bring all three laws’ effective dates forward to August 1, 2024, is not merely a matter of legislative timing. It represents an important step toward greater consistency and coherence in the legal framework, clarifying responsibilities and legal requirements at each stage of the real estate value chain and thereby helping to reduce regulatory gaps, areas of overlap, and differing interpretations during implementation. (Source: xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn)

2. KEY FACTS

Three core laws: the Land Law, Housing Law, and Law on Real Estate Business are being amended simultaneously for submission to the National Assembly.

Digital consultation: The Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Construction, is organizing public consultation through the VNeID electronic identification application on the draft amended Land Law, amended Housing Law, and amended Law on Real Estate Business. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is the lead agency for the draft Land Law, while the Ministry of Construction leads the drafts of the Housing Law and Law on Real Estate Business.

A new mechanism under consideration: Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW dated July 28, 2026, of the Central Committee provides policy direction for piloting a mechanism under which the State may acquire commercial housing projects from developers that are no longer capable of implementing them or are unable to transfer them, with the aim of creating a state-owned housing stock and meeting people’s housing needs. Based on this policy direction, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Construction to study and refine the proposal and report it to the National Assembly. (Source: vietnambiz.vn)

This remains a mechanism under development and is not yet a policy promulgated by the National Assembly and in force. Under the implementation plan for Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW, the development and submission to the National Assembly of a resolution on this pilot mechanism is targeted for completion in 2027. (Source: lichsu.daihoidang.vn)

Housing management: Regulations provide for measures to maximize the prevention of speculation and abuse of social housing and rental housing policies, together with corresponding sanctions.

3. WHAT IS CHANGING?

The market is shifting from a phase of “expansion-driven development” to one of “deeper control.” Previously, consultation on draft legislation generally took place through traditional channels. Today, the use of VNeID provides an accurate identity-verification layer for contributors. This enables regulators to gain a closer understanding of end users’ actual needs. At the same time, policy directions emphasizing tighter control over capital mobilization, prevention of speculation, and mechanisms for dealing with underperforming projects indicate a regulatory approach aimed directly at preventing price manipulation and screening developers based on their execution capacity.

4. FROM THE PROJECT DEVELOPER’S PERSPECTIVE

These changes to the legal framework will have an immediate impact on companies’ core strategies:

Planning and Product Mix: As the legal framework moves toward preventing speculation in social housing and promoting rental housing, developers will be required to adjust their product mix. Developing cash-flow-generating real estate is likely to become essential for maintaining business operations, rather than focusing solely on high-end commercial products that cater to speculative demand.

Finance and Cash Flow: The new legal framework requires developers to have genuinely robust equity capital. Presales of properties before satisfying legal requirements, as well as the misuse of mobilized capital for improper purposes, will be subject to tighter controls, requiring companies to maintain lawful funding sources and the ability to independently arrange financing from credit institutions.

Asset and Legal Risk: The policy direction to report to the National Assembly on a proposal to pilot a State project-acquisition mechanism is an important risk indicator. Developers with weak execution capacity may no longer be able to simply “bank land” while waiting for an appreciation cycle, but instead may face pressure to relinquish control of their projects.

5. WHERE DO THE KEY CONCERNS LIE?

A comparison of the policy directions set out in Resolution No. 278/NQ-CP highlights three strategic points:

VNeID is reshaping policy advocacy: Under Point c, Section 1, Part I of Resolution No. 278/NQ-CP, soliciting opinions on the three draft laws through VNeID is an official task. The participation of a system of verified identity accounts may dilute the influence of minority interest groups. Project developers should recognize that the space for policy advocacy aimed at loosening standards may narrow, while the regulatory framework increasingly prioritizes the interests of genuine homebuyers.

The “State acquisition of projects” mechanism — Exit route or sanction? The proposal to pilot State acquisition of stalled commercial housing projects has two dimensions. From a macroeconomic perspective, it is a solution intended to reactivate dormant projects and release non-performing debt. From a corporate perspective, however, it represents a form of sanction

that indirectly targets land banking, requiring developers to carefully assess their ability to deploy capital and execute projects before deciding to acquire additional land reserves.

The end of extraordinary profit margins: The simultaneous amendment of the core laws indicates that companies’ legal compliance costs, land-access costs, and cost of capital will increase. Profitability in the real estate sector will gradually become more normalized, approaching the margins of conventional infrastructure development and service industries, rather than remaining an arena for outsized, exponential returns.

6. THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

The alignment of the Land Law, Housing Law, and Law on Real Estate Business will establish a new real estate cycle: a cycle defined by tangible value and execution capability. Developers will no longer be able to compete by exploiting legal loopholes. Over the next decade, an advantage will lie with companies that have transparent financial structures, product R&D (research and development) capabilities closely aligned with genuine housing demand, and professional legal risk management systems.

CONCLUSION

Accelerating the three pillar laws, together with the digital consultation mechanism through VNeID under Resolution No. 278/NQ-CP, is more than a technical change in the legislative process. It sends a strong signal of an era of heightened regulatory scrutiny in the real estate market, in which the survival of project developers will depend on their ability to create genuine living spaces and strictly comply with cash-flow constraints.