Decree 226/2025/ND-CP Amending Land Law Guidance in Vietnam

On August 15, 2025, the Government issued Decree 226/2025/ND-CP, which amends and supplements several decrees detailing the implementation of the 2024 Land Law. As a result, many new land regulations will officially take effect from August 15, 2025. In the article below, Viet An Law will provide an update on the notable provisions of Decree 226/2025/ND-CP amending Land Law guidance in Vietnam.

Decrees amended by Decree 226/2025/ND-CP amending Land Law guidance in Vietnam

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP amends the following decrees that guide the Land Law 2024:

• Amends and supplements some articles of Decree 71/2024/ND-CP on land prices;
• Amends and supplements some articles of Decree 88/2024/ND-CP on compensation, support, and resettlement upon land expropriation by the state;
• Amends and supplements some articles of Decree 101/2024/ND-CP on providing for baseline land surveys; registration of land and property attached to land, issuance of certificates of land use rights and ownership of property attached to land, and land information system;
• Amends and supplements some articles of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP elaborating certain articles of the land law;
• Amends and supplements some articles of Decree 112/2024/ND-CP elaborating on land for rice cultivation;
• Amends and supplements some articles of Decree 151/2025/ND-CP on the division of authority for two-tier local governments, decentralization, and delegation in the land sector.

In addition, Decree 226/2025/ND-CP also replaces, supplements, and revokes several phrases in the articles and clauses of decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law 2024.

Official abolition of the land price bracket from August 15, 2025

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP takes effect on August 15, 2025. Consequently, the following regulations are now invalid:

• Decree 96/2019/ND-CP on the land price bracket;
• Decree 26/2021/ND-CP detailing some articles of Resolution 132/2020/QH14 on piloting policies to resolve issues and backlogs in the management and use of national defense and security land combined with production and economic activities.

This means the government’s regulations on the land price bracket in Decree 96/2019/ND-CP have been officially abolished. Land price lists will now be stable for a five-year cycle instead of being adjusted annually, and land price adjustment coefficients will be issued periodically to reflect local market fluctuations.

Notably, commune-level People’s Committees (instead of district-level) are now assigned the task of developing land price lists. Provincial-level land management agencies are also empowered to commission or select land appraisal consulting firms, rather than being entirely dependent on the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

The abolition of the land price bracket is a necessary step, as the 2024 Land Law requires land price lists to be closer to market values. This new mechanism increases flexibility and helps prevent situations where prices are either unfairly low or high.

Changes to the authority for selecting land appraisal organizations

• Previously, Clause 5, Article 13 of Decree 71/2024/ND-CP stipulated: The Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall select a land valuation organization to compile a land price list according to the provisions of the bidding law.
• Clause 8, Article 1 of Decree 226/2025/ND-CP has amended this provision: Based on local conditions, the provincial-level land management agency will now decide to commission a public service unit qualified in land appraisal or select a consulting firm in accordance with bidding laws to prepare the land price list.

This new regulation is appropriate given recent government restructuring, where the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has been merged with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to form the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

Currently, provincial-level land management agencies, in addition to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, also include the Land Registration Office and the Land Fund Development Center.

Added provisions on compensation for crops and livestock

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP adds Article 14a to Decree 88/2024/ND-CP regarding compensation, support, and resettlement when the State reclaims land. Accordingly:

• In case compensation for perennial crops that are harvested multiple times as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 103 of the Land Law, and the unharvested garden output cannot be determined corresponding to the remaining years in the harvest cycle, the compensation level will be calculated by the actual damage value of the garden.
• In case the Provincial People’s Committee considers issuing a unit price for compensation for crop and livestock damage as prescribed in Clause 6, Article 103 of the Land Law, without a crop and livestock production process issued by a competent authority, it shall be based on the actual situation of the locality where it is issued.

This provision ensures that compensation for state land reclamation reflects the actual damage and aligns with the specific conditions of each locality.

Amendments to land use purpose change regulations

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP also amends and supplements Article 50 of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP, stipulating the order and procedures for approving the conversion of the purpose of using rice-growing land, special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land to other purposes.

According to the new rules:

• The competent land management agency at the commune level is responsible for synthesizing the needs and making a list of projects that must convert the purpose of using rice-growing land, special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land to implement investment projects in the area, except for the cases prescribed in Clause 4, Article 67 of the Land Law.
• The People’s Committee at the commune level shall submit to the People’s Committee at the provincial level for approval the list of projects that must change the purpose of land use with areas of rice-growing land, special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land.
• The provincial People’s Committee has a document approving the list of projects that must change the purpose of land use with areas of rice fields, special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land.
• In case of changing the purpose of using rice-growing land, special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land to other purposes without having to establish an investment project according to the provisions of the law on investment, it is not necessary to carry out the procedures prescribed above.

Previously, regulations only vaguely mentioned the “land management agency.” The new regulation specifically defines the responsibility of the commune-level land management agency regarding the change of purpose for these land types.

Added provisions on land use rights auctions

Article 55 of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP, Article 55 on appraisal and approval of land use rights auction plans is amended:

• For a land use rights auction in which the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee is competent to allocate or lease land, the commune-level agency with land management function shall check and complete the dossier and submit it to the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee for approval of the plan on land use rights auction.
• For a land use rights auction in which the Chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee is competent to allocate or lease land, the provincial-level agency with land management function shall check and complete the dossier and submit it to the Chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee for approval of the plan on land use rights auction.

Thus, the new regulation has removed the competence of the district-level People’s Committees and supplemented the competence of the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee in approving the plan on land use rights auction.

Amendments to land use rights registration and Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Assets Attached to land issuance

Commune-level land management agencies can certify the cadastral maps and the cadastral map extract

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP amends Clause 7, Article 9 of Decree 101/2024/ND-CP. Previously, the commune-level People’s Committee had the authority to certify cadastral maps. Under the new regulation, this authority can now belong to the commune-level land management agency.

Specifically, in cases where cadastral map measurement shares serving registration, issuance of Land Use Rights Certificates, and ownership of assets attached to land under the authority of the commune level, and the competent land management agency at the commune level signs the confirmation.

Changes to land use fee debt rules for Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Assets Attached to land issuance

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP amends Clause 11, Article 18 of Decree 101/2024/ND-CP regarding land use fee debt when issuing land use rights certificates (also known as “Red Books”):

• Subjects eligible for debts for land use fees when issuing a Certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land for the first time are individuals or households using land who need to be debtors.
• The order and procedures for recording, paying, and removing land use fee debts for households and individuals eligible for land use fee debts, as prescribed in this clause, shall comply with the provisions of law on land use fee collection and land rent.
• The land use fee debt period of the subject specified in Point a of this Clause is calculated until the land user exercises the right to convert, transfer, donate land use rights, mortgage, contribute capital using land use rights and must pay the full remaining land use fee before exercising these rights; in case of donation or inheritance of land use rights, the recipient belonging to a poor household, a near-poor household and the inheritor will continue to record the debt.

The amount and duration of the debt remain as per Decree 101/2024/ND-CP:

• The amount of land levy to be deferred in the case specified in point a of this clause is the total amount of land levy payable at the time of granting the Certificate of LURs and ownership of property attached to land;
• The land levy deferral for the entities prescribed in point a of this clause shall be applicable in the period from August 01, 2024, to July 31, 2029, inclusive; the repayment and cancellation of land levy debts shall comply with regulations of law on the collection of land levy and land rent.

Added case for issuing Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Assets Attached to land for State farm land without a land use plan

Decree 226/2025/ND-CP adds Clause 5 to Article 26 of Decree 101/2024/ND-CP, which concerns the issuance of  Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Assets Attached to land to households and individuals using land originating from state farms or forests.

Accordingly, in cases where land is of agricultural and forestry origin and farms, forestry farms, or agricultural and forestry companies that previously used the land have dissolved or gone bankrupt and no longer directly manage or use the land:

• The Provincial People’s Committee shall direct the measurement, establishment of cadastral records, land registration, and issuance of Certificates of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land to subjects eligible for granting Certificates of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land;
• Without having to establish a land use plan according to the provisions of Article 181 of the Land Law 2024.

New forms in Decree 226/2025/ND-CP

Article 7 of Decree 226/2025/ND-CP specifies that forms 01, 02, 03, 04, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 in Appendix I of Decree 71/2024/ND-CP on land prices will be replaced by new forms in Appendix II of Decree 151/2025/ND-CP on the division of authority for two-tier local governments, decentralization, and delegation in the land sector.

This change is to align with the new authority divisions in the land sector, particularly after the restructuring of administrative units and the abolition of the district-level government.

Transitional provisions

To ensure consistency, Article 8 of Decree 226/2025/ND-CP specifies the following transitional clauses for applying the new regulations:

• Compensation, support, and resettlement: For projects initiated but not yet approved before the new decree’s effective date, the provisions of Decree 226/2025/ND-CP will apply.
• Specific land price determination: For cases initiated before the decree’s effective date but without an official land price decision, the competent People’s Committee can either continue to issue a land price decision based on previous laws or apply the new regulations in Decree 226/2025/ND-CP.
• Land allocation and leasing combined with forest allocation: If land has been allocated but the forest has not, the forest law and Decree 226/2025/ND-CP apply. If the forest has been allocated but the land has not, the procedures in Decree 226/2025/ND-CP will apply.
• Changing the purpose of rice and forest land: Projects approved by the provincial People’s Council before the new decree’s effective date will continue to follow previous regulations for land allocation, leasing, and purpose change.

Above is the information on the issue of Decree 226/2025/ND-CP amending Land Law guidance in Vietnam. Clients who have related questions or need legal support, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best support!