Yen Thanh district organized land auctions in violation of regulations.
(Baonghean.vn) - After surveying the land planning area that had been auctioned in Block 4, town, the provincial People's Council's monitoring team concluded that, despite the incomplete infrastructure investment, the locality still put it up for auction, whereas regulations require infrastructure completion before auctioning.
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| On the morning of October 18th, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council held a working session with the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district as part of its program to monitor land use rights auctions in the province. Photo: Mai Hoa |
Not implemented according to regulations.
According to feedback from voters, Yen Thanh is a locality with a vibrant land auction activity, considering both the positive aspect of high demand for residential land from the people and the negative aspect of the troublesome involvement of "auction brokers" in this activity.
Through its oversight, the Provincial People's Council's supervisory team pointed out several irregularities in the land auction process in Yen Thanh district. For example, the process of receiving applications and deposits, which is supposed to be handled by the auction organizer, is currently being delegated to the communes, potentially compromising information security.
Infrastructure investment in areas designated for auction, such as Block 4 in the town, is incomplete, yet the local authorities are still putting them up for auction, despite regulations requiring infrastructure completion before the auction. This creates difficulties for those who win the auction and wish to build houses immediately afterward.
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| The infrastructure for the land auction in Block 4, town, is not yet complete, but the land is still being put up for auction. Photo: Mai Hoa |
Explaining this issue, a representative from the Yen Thanh District People's Committee stated that due to practical shortcomings, people deposit money into the temporary holding account of the Finance and Planning Department at the State Treasury and then make another deposit after a successful auction. However, because the State Treasury's software does not allow for two deposits, the auction organizations authorize the commune People's Committees to collect documents and receive deposits through the commune's bank account via bank transfer, thus preventing the disclosure of bidder information. The collected documents are sealed, and the price for each document is displayed on a screen.
Regarding infrastructure investment, a representative from the District People's Committee stated that, to avoid situations where the revenue collected into the budget after a successful auction is low due to a high infrastructure investment ratio or an unsuccessful auction, the District People's Committee has stipulated that the infrastructure investment ratio is 15% of the starting price. With this ratio, the infrastructure in the planned areas will only include drainage ditches surrounding the planned area and access roads using gravel.
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| According to Nguyen Vuong Ngoc, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, increasing the deposit amount for land auctions is necessary to address the issue of "auction brokers." (Photo: Mai Hoa) |
Solutions to address the problem of "auction brokers"
Several issues were also of concern to the monitoring team, including the determination of the starting price proposed by the Commune People's Committee and assessed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Finance and Planning before being submitted to the Chairman of the District People's Committee for approval, which matched the commune's proposal. Other issues included the criteria for selecting auction organizers; the percentage increase in the winning bid price compared to the starting price; the advantages and disadvantages of direct and indirect auction methods; and solutions to address the problem of "auction brokers".
Regarding solutions to address the issue of "auction brokers," Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee Nguyen Vuong Ngoc suggested three factors to mitigate it: firstly, choosing indirect auction methods instead of direct auctions; secondly, setting starting prices close to market prices; and thirdly, increasing the deposit amount by up to 20% of the starting price, exceeding the current regulations.
From January 2018 to September 2020, 639 land plots with a total area of 125,525 m² were successfully auctioned in Yen Thanh district.2The winning bid amounted to over 262 billion VND.
