Solutions to handle problems in land title issuance in Nghe An

PV:For a long time, the issue of granting land use right certificates to households and individuals in the province has raised many difficulties and frustrations for the people. Could you please share more specifically about this issue?

Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet:The issuance of land use right certificates, house ownership rights and assets attached to land for households and individuals in the province has recently raised many difficulties. Not only are the rights of the people affected, but the State management of land is also facing difficulties. This is an issue that has given rise to many petitions and voters and people have also made many recommendations at the meetings of voters with elected representatives at all levels.

Leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and professional staff reviewed land use planning for construction sites and projects in the province. Photo: Mai Hoa

Among many difficulties and problems, the most important isgranting of land use right certificates. Currently, the whole province still has nearly 12,000 cases of land allocation without proper authority, and land use right certificates cannot be issued due to lack of procedures and documents related to the land allocation decision of the government or proof of the fulfillment of financial obligations of the people. Many cases were issued by the District People's Committee for land allocation decisions from the implementation of the 1993 Land Law until before July 1, 2014, but currently there are no documents proving that households and individuals have fulfilled their financial obligations when being allocated land, so they are not eligible for being granted land use right certificates.

In addition, there are many cases of arbitrary conversion of agricultural and forestry land to residential land, which the press has long reported on, including illegal housing construction on agricultural and forestry land. On the other hand, the regulations on land division, including land division for residential land, garden land, agricultural land, forestry land and land division with traffic roads, are causing difficulties and affecting the rights of the people.

Along with the issuance of residential land use right certificates, the issuance of agricultural land use right certificates, the issuance of first-time certificates associated with land allocation and issuance of agricultural land use right certificates according to Decree 64 of the Government has many problems. The issuance of agricultural land use right certificates to households and individuals after land consolidation and plot exchange according to Directive No. 02/CT-TU, Directive No. 08-CT/TU of the Provincial Party Committee is stuck because the conversion process does not have an approved land consolidation and plot exchange plan according to regulations... Or related to the land of cultural houses in villages and hamlets, many places carry out land and plot exchange for people to build public works, but the land exchange for people does not go through the procedures, so the issuance of land use right certificates to people has not been carried out.

Measuring to issue and change agricultural land use right certificates in Nghi Loc district. Photo: Mai Hoa

The above-mentioned problems and difficulties are due to the history of land management and the current legal regulations have not yet addressed them. From that reality, the industry has been struggling to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue new regulations that are not contrary to the regulations of the higher levels, and also remove difficulties for localities in land management, especially ensuring the rights of the people.

Based on the advice of the industry, on September 17, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 28/2021/QD-UBND on granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land to households and individuals using land in Nghe An province.

PV:Dear comrade, among the above-mentioned problems, the most headache-inducing issue for localities and the most pressing issue among the people is the issue of granting land use rights certificates in cases of land granting beyond authority. So how does Decision No. 28/2021/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee regulate the resolution of this issue?

Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet:Decision No. 28/2021/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee promulgates many new, groundbreaking regulations. In addition to overcoming the above-mentioned shortcomings, this decision also stipulates the authorization to approve and sign the issuance of land use right certificates. Instead of the authority of the leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the authority is now delegated to the Land Registration Office at one level under the Department and district-level branches. This authorization will reform the process in one step, shorten the time and speed up the issuance of land use right certificates to households and individuals across the province. Or handle the situation of some individuals buying large areas of land from households and then dividing them into plots to sell like real estate projects in some localities, causing overload of electricity, traffic, and environmental infrastructure, etc.

Strengthening management and improving the efficiency of forestry land use, minimizing the impact of climate change. Photo: Mai Hoa

Regarding the caseunauthorized land allocationIn case of having paid money to use the land but at the time of requesting the issuance of a land use right certificate, the documents are lost or misplaced, if the following conditions are met, the certificate will be granted. Such as having a certified copy of the documents on land use rights or documents, books proving the payment at the time of land issuance by the agency or organization. Or having a copy of the documents on land use rights according to regulations, certified by the People's Committee at the district or provincial level or the specialized management agency at the district or provincial level in case the original of these documents has been lost and the State agency no longer retains the management records of the issuance of such documents.

In case there are no above mentioned documents, the consideration for granting the Certificate will be carried out after the conclusion of the District People's Committee through inspection, verification and conclusion. The remaining cases will be carried out according to the provisions of the 2013 Land Law.

In parallel with handling difficulties in granting land use right certificates to people, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has also consulted the General Department of Land Management to draft regulations: For cases of land allocation without proper authority from July 1, 2004 to before July 1, 2014, the Chairman of the District People's Committee is responsible for clarifying, reviewing, and handling responsibilities for those who allocate land without proper authority according to the provisions of law before or after granting the land use right certificate.

Officials from the Land Registration Office directly go to the grassroots to resolve difficulties in granting land use right certificates to people. Photo: Mai Hoa

PV:So how will the problem of dividing residential land be handled, comrade?

Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet:Decree 148/2020/ND-CP dated December 18, 2020 of the Government stipulates: "The Provincial People's Committee shall, based on the planning, land use plan, detailed construction plan and specific conditions in the locality, specifically prescribe the conditions for land division, land consolidation conditions according to each land type and the minimum area for land division for each land type".

To implement the Government's policy, in Decision No. 28/2021/QD-UBND, the Provincial People's Committee issued a number of specific regulations for implementation as follows:

- Based on planning, land use plan, detailed construction plan (scale 1/500 or 1/2,000 for detailed planning of rural residential areas, scale 1/500 for detailed planning of urban construction) approved by competent State agencies. In case there is no such plan, the basis is the land use plan approved by competent State agencies.

- The division and consolidation of land plots must ensure limited use rights for adjacent land plots according to the provisions of Article 171 of the 2013 Land Law and Article 254 of the 2015 Civil Code; in which, in the case of a land plot being divided into many plots for different users, when dividing, necessary passages must be reserved for people inside without compensation; the passages are agreed upon by the parties, ensuring convenience for travel and causing little inconvenience to the parties.

Officials of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment deploy the measurement and correction of cadastral maps to serve land acquisition, land allocation, and issuance of certificates for key projects. Photo: Mai Hoa

- The land plot requested for division is not in accordance with the announced planning but is not included in the annual land use plan of the district level for recovery or change of project implementation purpose. In case it is recorded in the annual land use plan of the district level but after 3 years there is no decision to recover the land or permission to change the land use purpose for project implementation but the Provincial People's Committee does not adjust, cancel or adjusts, cancels but does not announce the adjustment, cancellation of the annual land use plan at the district level.

- In the case of dividing a residential land plot into 2 or more plots with a road opening (the land user voluntarily returns the land for the State to reclaim according to regulations or donates the land to open a road), the land user must have a proposed road opening diagram and be approved in writing by the District People's Committee. Accordingly, if the new road connects to an existing road with a cross-section greater than or equal to 4m, the new road must have a cross-section greater than or equal to 4m; if the connecting road is less than 4m, the new road must have a cross-section equal to the existing road, but must be at least greater than or equal to 2m...

PV:Thank you very much, comrade!