Prime Minister rectifies land use rights auction work

Telegrams sent to the Ministers of: Natural Resources and Environment, Construction, Finance, Justice, Public Security; Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities.

The telegram stated:

On August 21, 2024, the Prime Minister issued Official Dispatch No. 82/CD-TTg directing localities to promptly rectify the auction of land use rights and achieved certain results, gradually bringing the auction of land use rights into order, contributing to supplementing revenue for local budgets. However, the organization of land use rights auctions in some localities still has certain shortcomings and limitations such as the phenomenon of auction participants paying unusually high prices, signs of price inflation, or colluding and conspiring to manipulate prices for profit, causing market disruption, affecting the healthy development of the real estate market. This situation is attracting public attention, which can negatively impact socio-economic development, the investment and business environment, and the real estate market.

To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of land use rights auctions, contribute to the health of the real estate market, improve the investment and business environment, and promote socio-economic development, the Prime Minister requests:

1. The Chairman of the People's Committee of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall direct the relevant agencies and units to review the organization of land use right auctions in the area to ensure compliance with the law, publicity and transparency; promptly detect and strictly handle violations of the provisions of law in land use right auctions, and prevent acts of taking advantage of land use right auctions for personal gain and causing market disruption. In particular, focus on implementing the following solutions:

a) Organize public disclosure of planning, land use plans, construction planning, urban planning of the area where land use rights auctions are held and neighboring areas; take measures to ensure the supply of residential real estate and residential land suitable to the accessibility and payment capacity of the majority of people in need, overcoming the imbalance between supply and demand in the real estate market;

b) Before determining the starting price according to the land price list for the auction of land use rights, it is necessary to review, adjust and supplement the corresponding land price in the land price list in the area and location of the auction according to the provisions of the law on land, ensuring that the starting price put up for auction must be consistent with the conditions of the invested infrastructure and the actual land price level in the auction area;

c) Directing the development of land use rights auction plans to ensure strictness, science, and control by competent authorities, avoiding the situation of taking advantage of the auction to gain profit, causing market disruption, in which paying attention to the regulation of shortening the deadline for paying the winning bid, determining the appropriate amount of money to be paid the first time to limit the situation of abandoning the deposit; directing the unit assigned to organize the land use rights auction, the organization practicing the property auction to choose the appropriate form and method of auction to limit the act of collusion, price suppression or price inflation;

d) Review local residential land demand, plan and invest in infrastructure construction of land plots expected to be auctioned for land use rights; at the same time, consider arranging suitable land funds to implement resettlement land allocation, land allocation without land use rights auction for subjects specified in points a, b, c and d, Clause 3, Article 124 of the 2024 Land Law;

d) Promote the application of information technology and digital transformation in the organization of land use rights auctions to ensure publicity and transparency; based on current legal regulations, take appropriate measures to strictly manage information on auction participation history and cash flow in the payment accounts of auction winners, especially in cases of unusual signs in auctions such as: one person or group of people registering to bid for multiple plots of land in the same auctioned land area, auction participants bidding unusually high or winning high bids but abandoning deposits, etc. to limit possible negative phenomena;

e) Be responsible before the law and the Prime Minister for organizing and implementing land use rights auctions to ensure publicity, transparency, objectivity, and protection of the interests of the State and the rights and interests of related parties.

2. The Minister of Justice shall preside over and coordinate with the Ministers of the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, Finance, Construction and the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to urgently review and complete legal regulations on land use rights auctions, carry out digital transformation in asset auctions (including land use rights auctions) to ensure full, public, transparent, strict and scientific information, and avoid being exploited in the process of participating in and conducting asset auctions, including land use rights auctions; supplement sanctions to handle violations in the field of auctions, especially acts of collusion, price suppression, price inflation, price manipulation, taking advantage of auctions for personal gain, causing market disruption; supplement regulations on conditions to restrict participation for participants in land use rights auctions who have previously committed violations or intentionally abandoned deposits for personal gain.

3. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment shall preside over and coordinate with the Ministers of the Ministries of Justice, Finance, Construction and the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to strengthen the inspection and examination of land use rights auction activities in cases showing unusual signs, promptly detect inadequacies in legal regulations to advise and propose competent authorities to amend and supplement them appropriately; at the same time, handle according to authority or propose competent authorities to strictly handle organizations and individuals violating the provisions of the law on land use rights auctions, especially acts of taking advantage of land use rights auctions for profit, causing market disruption; report to the Prime Minister on issues beyond authority.

4. The Minister of Construction shall preside over and coordinate with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to study and specifically assess the impacts of the recent land use rights auction results (especially cases with unusually high auction results, many times higher than the starting price) on the price level of residential land, housing, and the real estate market; proactively resolve within its authority or propose to competent authorities measures to limit negative impacts (if any), contributing to regulating, stabilizing, and developing the real estate market healthily, and reporting the results to the Prime Minister.

5. The Minister of Public Security directs professional units and local police to proactively grasp the situation, detect, investigate, and strictly handle according to the provisions of law organizations and individuals who violate to the extent that they must be prosecuted for criminal liability in the auction of land use rights.

6. The competent authorities shall direct units and localities to strengthen their grasp of the situation, promptly detect, prevent and strictly handle violations of the law in land use rights auctions, especially acts of collusion, conspiring to suppress or inflate prices, manipulating prices for personal gain, causing market disruption, affecting the healthy development of the real estate market.

7. Assign Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to directly monitor and direct the implementation of this Official Dispatch.

8. The Government Office regularly monitors the situation and promptly reports to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in charge on urgent and arising issues./.