All foreigners with visas allowing them to stay in Viet Nam for 3 months or longer will now be eligible to buy and own houses long-term.  This is an extension of the previous regulations introduced in 2009 about foreigner ownership. 

The Ministry of Construction recently held discussions in Da Nang on the above-mentioned content which will be added to the revised draft laws on Housing and Real Estate Business in the near future. 

The Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management under the Ministry of Construction, Mr Nguyen Manh Khoi, remarked that this was aimed at encouraging more foreign organisations and individuals to invest in Viet Nam, as well as revitalising the domestic real estate market. 

Foreigners learn about housing projects in Viet Nam

He said that the beneficiaries would include FDI enterprises or branches and representative offices of foreign companies operating in Viet Nam.  In addition, foreign individuals with visas for 3 months or longer will be allowed to buy and own apartments, terraced houses and villas.  Anyone with an investment licence or approval for a project implementation will also be able to buy homes for business purposes.

Deputy Director Khoi said that each foreign organisation and individual could own a maximum of 2 properties, and they would be allowed to lease them out.  They would own the properties for an initial 50 years with the possibility of an extension for a further 50 years later.  As for individual properties, their total area should not exceed 500m².

Foreigners will be allowed to sell or donate their properties to anyone after the expiration of 12 months from the date of issue of their property ownership certificates.  They would be required to pay double their tax as defined in the current regulations if they sell their properties before the required 12-month period has expired.

The foreign owners can use their properties for residence, leasing and other purposes.  They will be compensated and relocated if their properties are affected by any development project.

The Deputy Minister of the Construction Department, Mr Nguyen Tran Nam, said that apart from enjoying the favourable home purchasing policies, foreigners should be required to comply with the buyer’s obligations in accordance with the national regulations. 

In particular, foreign individuals will not be allowed to access loans from Vietnamese credit institutions to buy their properties.  In any one apartment block, a maximum of 30% of the apartments can be owned by foreigners, and only up to 250 properties in one ward. 

By the end of the 2^nd quarter of this year, 101 individuals and 25 organisations, out of the 80,000 foreigners living and working throughout Viet Nam, had bought houses.