According to this directive, the Government and particularly the Prime Minister have issued formal dispatches to clearly instruct the implementation of the 2024 Land law, effective as of August 1, 2024 (including the section on land use right auction).
Some localities have successfully conducted land use auctions, contributing to local budget revenue. However, there have been instances where winning bids significantly exceeded the starting price (in some cases abnormally high, as reported by the media), attracting significant public attention. This could potentially impact economic and social development, the investment environment, business activities, as well as the housing and real estate market.
Therefore, the Prime Minister asks that chairmen of all provincial and municipal People’s Committees have to direct functional agencies under their charge to oversee and ensure that land use auctions are conducted transparently and publicly in accordance with the law. They should promptly identify and strictly handle any violations of land use auction regulations, preventing the exploitation of auctions for personal gain and disrupting the market.
The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment must cooperate with other ministers of Justice, Finance, Construction and provincial/municipal People's Committees in thoroughly reviewing and inspecting land use auctions with abnormal results. Any violations of land use auction regulations should be handled according to their authority.
The Minister of Construction is requested to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as well as provincial/municipal People's Committees to research and assess the specific impacts of recent land use auction results, particularly cases with abnormally high winning bids, on land prices, housing prices, and the supply and demand of the housing and real estate market. Proactive measures should be taken to address these impacts or propose solutions to mitigate negative consequences (if any). A report should then be submitted to the Prime Minister.
All relevant functional agencies should strengthen monitoring, promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle violations of land use auction regulations, especially collusion, market manipulation, and price inflation to create an unhealthy and unrealistic market for personal gain.
The ministers of Natural Resources and Environment, Construction, Finance must urgently provide guidance and training to localities on the new policies of the Land Law, Housing Law, and Real Estate Business Law.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha is assigned to directly monitor and oversee the implementation of this directive.
On August 21, in response to recent land auctions in Hanoi's outskirts where bidding prices skyrocketed several times above the starting price, the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment stated that it is collaborating with law enforcement agencies and other relevant units to gather and verify evidence related to suspicions that a group of investors may have intentionally "inflated" prices and created an artificial land price bubble through these auctions.
This department stated that land auctions have been decentralized to local authorities. However, it has been monitoring the auctions in Hanoi's outer districts, such as Me Linh, Hoai Duc, Thanh Oai, and Dan Phuong, where they've observed numerous plots being bid at prices many times higher than the starting price, which could ultimately cause disturbances and instability in the real estate market.
Meanwhile, the People’s Committee of Thanh Oai District has just sent a report to the Hanoi People’s Committee about the organization of an auction for 68 plots in Ngo Ba area (Thanh Than Village of Thanh Cao Commune) on August 10.
The starting price was VND 8.6-12.5 million/m² (US$345-501), and by the end of the auction, the winning bids for these 68 plots ranged from VND 55-100 million/m² ($2,200-4,000), 6-8 times higher than the starting price. The auction attracted 1,600 participants with 4,439 applications.
According to the People's Committee of Thanh Oai District, the process of determining and approving the starting price was conducted in accordance with Decree No.12/2024/ND-CP dated February 5, 2024, which amends and supplements some provisions of Decree No.44/2014/ND-CP (issued on May 15, 2014), on land prices.
All stages of the auction process were implemented in accordance with guidelines, ensuring objectivity and transparency. Customers bid according to their needs and the market, and the auction was conducted in accordance with the correct procedures, under the supervision of law enforcement agencies, the press, and the public. There were no signs of land hoarding, price manipulation, or profiteering through the land auction.
