Lax management has led to illegal sales of forest land for agricultural purposes at extremely cheap prices in Hanoi and Hoa Binh provinces.
Forest land offered at cheap prices
Lan, the owner of a 30ha farm in Soc Son District, Hanoi has been trying to sell her land at only VND10,000 per square metres (USD0.48). She said that she was even willing to reduce the price to VND6,000-7,000 per square metre for any individual willing to purchase the whole lot.
Lan's family bought the land to build resorts while the real estate market was up, but after the real estate slump the investment turned sour.
She said that there are many people in the area trying to sell their land, but because of the inconvenience of the location and poor transport infrastructure, offers are few and low - averaging VND2,000-3,000 per square metre.
Long, the owner of a plot of land over 20ha in Hoa Binh Province, said he was able to sell 8ha and wants to sell the rest at the price of VND3.5 billion. Long said his land is forest land and was leased out to farmers for forestry. He has even offered to help with the documentation of any potential customers. Still, it has not been an easy sell.
His sales pitch is that if the land is bought now, and registered for a certain use, later the authorities will not be able to expropriate the property in the name of urban planning.
A broker, of course, agreed, saying, "I have never seen any cases of land withdrawal or punishment for people who bought and registered property under specific land use rights. The price is also quite low for now."
In reality, however, many land buyers who are naive about the law as well as the beaurocracy surrounding land use rights have found themselves in difficult situations.
Tuan Anh bought a 7ha land plot in Soc Son District for VND4 billion in 2008, with full documentation. However, after realising that it was registered as forest land, he did a bit of research. What he found was unsettling to the small investor.
"Actually, the contract I signed only recognises a civil transaction," he said. "It doesn't designate the type of land I bought. This means that the land can be withdrawn at any time."
Bui Quang Hung, a lawyer with BQH and Associates, said that construction on forest land violates not only the Law on Construction but also the Land Law.
He added that, "Violators may be subject not only to the withdrawal of their land, but the destruction of any structure existing on the property."
