Vietnam may ban foreigners from buying houses, leaving only apartments
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If the amendments to the Housing Law are adopted as they stand, foreigners in Vietnam will be able to buy apartments only. The draft published on 13 September drops the right to own landed houses, meaning villas and townhouses on their own plot of land.
The Ministry of Construction links the change to Resolution 21-NQ/TW, adopted by the Communist Party's Central Committee on 28 July. The resolution bars the privatisation of land and forbids foreigners from receiving land-use rights. An exception is made for Vietnamese people living abroad.
For apartments, the draft keeps these conditions:
foreigners may own no more than 30% of the apartments in a building, and in projects with several buildings the cap applies to each building separately;
foreigners may not buy in projects located in defence and security zones. The Government will define those zones, and local authorities will publish lists of projects open to foreign buyers;
ownership lasts up to 50 years from the date the ownership certificate is issued, with one possible extension of up to another 50 years, depending on the building's remaining useful life.
According to the Ministry of Construction, foreign buyers have acquired 1,519 homes since the 2023 Housing Law took effect. Including earlier purchases, the total is estimated at more than 6,000.
The report does not say how the draft would treat people who already own a landed house. Danny Vo, vice president of the HCM City Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese, proposed that holders of valid ownership certificates should have their rights fully protected, including the right to transfer, gift, mortgage and bequeath the property.
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