More relaxed rules for foreigners to own houses in Vietnam:
More foreigners are permitted to own houses in Vietnam, including (i) foreign organizations and/or individuals who invest to build residential housing in projects in Vietnam; (ii) foreign institutions including foreign invested enterprises, branches and representative offices of foreign enterprises, foreign investment funds, branches of foreign banks operating in Vietnam; (iii) foreign individuals granted entry into Vietnam.
There are no restrictions on housing types: Under the current law, foreigners can own only apartments, while LOH 2014 removes restrictions on which types of housing foreigners can own.
Some quotas are placed to restrict the number of foreign-owned and foreign-rented housing in communities:
The number of apartments leased to or in the title of foreigners shall not exceed 30% of the total apartments in an apartment block. For single-family detached houses, the number of such houses leased to or in the title of foreigners shall not exceed 250 houses per an area with the population size equivalent to a ward-level administrative unit.
Duration of ownership:
Similarly to the pilot scheme, foreign individuals are allowed to own houses for a limited duration of 50 years with renewal option upon expiration. The expiration terms would be further detailed in the Government's later guidelines. Foreign individuals who are married to Vietnamese citizens shall be entitled to freehold tenure.
Use of properties:
Previously foreigners could only use residential properties for their personal residential purposes. Under LOH 2014, foreigners can now enjoy the same rights as Vietnamese citizens in ownership of residential properties, including rights to sub-lease, trade, inherit, and mortgage.
