The Construction Ministry on Wednesday said it would propose changes to the Law on Real Estate Business with an aim to create a better legal corridor for all business stakeholders, especially foreign investors.
In a working session with the National Assembly’s Economic Commission in Hanoi on Wednesday, the ministry said the amended law should ensure market-oriented mechanisms for all businesses, with all liberal rules to attract financial resources. The final aim is to create favorable conditions for all investors, domestic and foreign alike, to engage in the property market, and at the same time to improve professional norms for all property brokers, traders and consultants.
The draft amendments if endorsed will open the property market wider for foreign investors as well as Vietnamese overseas, according to the ministry.
Foreign individuals and organizations as well as Vietnamese nationals residing overseas will be able to invest in the property market with easier requirements. They will also be allowed to lease, buy and own offices for working and for lease as well as houses in the country.
At the meeting, the NA Economic Commission’s Chairman Nguyen Van Giau suggested that the law should also include previously-issued by-laws that have been applied in reality.
Seven years since the Law on Real Estate Business was enacted in 2006, many problems have emerged that need to be addressed, according to the ministry. Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam said at the meeting that there were not sufficient legal provisions on the creation and development of properties.
State management agencies have not been able to ensure that properties are developed in conformity with zoning plans or urban planning, and rampant developments have caused adverse impacts on the economy, including bad debts and high inventories.
The deputy minister observed that property prices had plunged by 10%-30% last year, with certain projects seeing prices plummet by half. However, there appeared signs of thawing on the property market, with more products finding buyers towards the end of 2013, Nam said.
The draft amendments to the Law on Real Estate Business will be completed and submitted to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee in March, 2014.