Addressing the backlog in issuing land use right certificates.

Strengthening guidance

Issuing land use right certificates and house ownership certificates to households and individuals is a matter of particular concern to the public and the people. This issue has given rise to numerous letters, petitions, and complaints to various levels and sectors, as well as to forums where elected representatives interact with constituents.

To accurately assess the current situation and find solutions, on September 28, 2021, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council held a hearing on the situation of issuing land use right certificates, house ownership certificates, and certificates of ownership of assets attached to land in the province. Following the hearing, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council issued a Notice of Conclusion, which requested the Provincial People's Committee to develop a plan to definitively resolve outstanding issues in the issuance of land use right certificates, house ownership certificates, and certificates of ownership of assets attached to land for cases of land allocation without proper authority or planning, in old residential areas, apartment buildings, villas, townhouses, etc.

Leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and professional staff review land use planning for the locations of construction projects and other projects in the province. (Photo: Mai Hoa)

Based on that, the Provincial People's Committee directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with district-level authorities to review and compile statistics on cases of households and individuals using residential land but not yet having been granted land use certificates, as a basis for advising the Provincial People's Committee on a plan to resolve the outstanding issues.

According to the review results, the entire province has approximately 47,653 cases that have not yet been granted land use certificates. Of these, 14,630 cases involve land allocation without proper authority; 820 cases are in collective housing areas; and 31,623 cases involve land allocation that does not conform to planning regulations, including apartments, villas, and townhouses in urban projects. The highest number of outstanding cases is in Con Cuong district with 7,595 cases; Tan Ky with 5,067 cases; Tuong Duong with 3,739 cases; Do Luong with 3,081 cases; and Yen Thanh with 2,803 cases…

Based on the review results, on December 30, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 815/KH-UBND on resolving outstanding issues in the issuance of land use right certificates, house ownership certificates, and certificates for assets attached to land in the province. Accordingly, the goal is to ensure that by December 31, 2022, at least 80% of the outstanding land use right certificates are issued to district-level People's Committees. For the Land Registration Office, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment aims to issue 65-80% of the outstanding certificates for real estate development projects (approximately 2,886 apartment units and 4,330 adjacent land plots and villas that have not yet been issued land use right certificates).

In accordance with Plan No. 815/KH-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has issued numerous directives, urging and guiding the district-level People's Committees and the Provincial Land Registration Office to implement the plan. During the implementation process, any difficulties encountered are compiled, statistically analyzed, and reported to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for guidance and resolution.

At the district level, plans were issued, steering committees and working groups were established, and specific targets for issuing land use certificates were assigned to each commune. Some units organized online conferences or training sessions, providing direct guidance to Party Committee Secretaries, People's Committee Chairmen, commune-level officials, and residents on the policies of all levels, aiming to involve the entire political system and the people.

Officials from the Land Registration Office conduct field surveys to facilitate the issuance of land use right certificates in industrial zones. Photo: Mai Hoa

Some localities have even developed sample application forms for issuing certificates to make it easier for local authorities to guide people through the process, such as Yen Thanh district; and organized direct meetings with some local authorities that have a large backlog of applications, such as Vinh city. Accordingly, at the commune level, plans are also developed, assigning specific workloads, timelines, and progress schedules for resolution, linking the responsibilities of each organization and individual.

The Provincial Land Registration Office has also issued a decision assigning performance targets to all 21/21 district-level Land Registration Office branches, assigning responsibility to the branch directors. Simultaneously, Official Letter No. 397/VPĐK-ĐK&CGCN dated March 17, 2022, was sent to investors of real estate projects throughout the province, requesting them to prepare data and documents for investigation and processing according to the plan.

Initial movement

Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet, Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, affirmed: The issuance of land use right certificates and house ownership certificates to households and individuals has long been a key and ongoing task of the department. Following the Provincial People's Council Standing Committee's explanatory session and the Provincial People's Committee's issuance of Plan No. 815/KH-UBND, which requires focusing on resolving outstanding cases of land use right certificates and house ownership certificates, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment considers this a key focus for 2021 and 2022. Therefore, in recent times, the department has directed, guided, and collaborated with districts to implement and promptly resolve difficulties; districts, in turn, have collaborated with and resolved issues at the commune level, mobilizing the entire political system to participate.

The Hung Nguyen District Land Registration Office branch implements the "Saturday and Sunday for the People" initiative to process applications for land use right certificates for residents. Photo: Mai Hoa

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment also promoted administrative reform; assigning responsibility to the Provincial Land Registration Office to strengthen unannounced inspections at district-level branches, resolutely and seriously handling officials, employees, and workers in the Land Registration Office system who violate public service ethics and cause inconvenience to the people when handling work. The Directors of the branch offices were tasked with recommending to the District People's Committees to handle commune and district-level officials if violations or harassment occur; and continuing to establish working groups to go to localities to resolve difficulties and obstacles and supervise the issuance and renewal of land use certificates.

To ensure the effective implementation of land use right certificate issuance, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also requires the Provincial Land Registration Office and its district-level branches to strengthen the dissemination of land law information, maintain "Saturdays for the People, Sundays for the People" events directly at the grassroots level, including hamlets, villages, and communities, to disseminate laws, guide the preparation of documents, and register land changes…

As a result, from October 2021 to March 31, 2022, the entire province issued 6,597 initial land use right certificates (including rural residential land, urban residential land, agricultural land, and forest land); issued 788 certificates for 2,886 apartments that had not yet been issued certificates in apartment projects; and issued 695 certificates for 4,330 adjacent land plots and villas that had not yet been issued certificates in adjacent housing and villa projects.

Besides initial progress, some localities still face difficulties and obstacles. Mr. Thai Huu An, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Thanh district, said: Yen Thanh currently has 2,803 outstanding cases that have not been granted land use certificates, and resolving them is very difficult because the remaining cases are very "tough," stemming from historical issues. For example, many cases involve land allocation without proper authority but lack evidence of fulfilling financial obligations. Many cases involve exchanging land with the commune for the construction of public welfare facilities such as schools, roads, lakes, dams, markets, etc., but there are currently no regulations for handling such cases, only regulations for exchanging land for cultural centers. Many cases involve land use acquired through transfer, donation, or gift, but the donor does not currently live in the locality or has passed away, making implementation difficult.

Officials from the Land Registration Office directly visited the grassroots level to resolve difficulties in issuing land use right certificates to the people. (Photo: Mai Hoa)

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh City, also reported that there are nearly 2,000 outstanding cases in the city. The most difficult situation is in the communes merged into the city, where many cases involve land allocation without proper authority, resulting in significant changes to the area and boundaries compared to the cadastral map. Many cases lack complete documentation and civil agreements between family members. Some plots of land currently have no houses built on them, and the landowners do not reside in the area to complete the necessary paperwork… Cases involving land allocated without proper authority in the past also pose difficulties in issuing land use certificates…

The aforementioned issues require further research by the province to resolve them or to propose solutions to the central government. Only then can the proposals of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and the plan of the Provincial People's Committee be effectively implemented.