Faster issuance of land titles

A homeowner pays land and housing taxes in Ha Noi's Dong Da District. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is targeing that all outstanding land use rights and house ownership certificates be granted by local authorities by the end of next year. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Tu

HA NOI — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is calling for the issuance of land use rights and home ownership certificates to be sped up nationwide and the process of granting certificates to be completed by next year.

According to the department's report, by the end of June this year, more than 35.85 million certificates had been granted for a total of nearly 20.5 million ha, still below the expected figures.

The percentage of land area granted a certificate ranged from nearly 63 per cent to more than 87 per cent. The land's purpose varied from agriculture and forestry to aquaculture, and also included both rural and urban land and as well as land for special and religious purposes.

Deputy director of the General Department of Land Administration Le Van Lich said that the granting of land certificates had been progressing slowly despite the passing of the Government-issued Decree 88, which was intended to streamline it, in 2009.

Most provinces through out the country had not finished granting land certificates, he said, pointing out that Lai Chau, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan and Gia Lai provinces were among those achieving the lowest percentages of land area granted.

Of the seven types of land, urban land was among two with the lowest percentages of area granted a certificate which stayed at 63.5 per cent. Twenty-six out of 63 provinces achieved below 70 per cent, including Ninh Thuan (13.7 per cent), Hung Yen (24.8 per cent), Lai Chau (26.8 per cent) and Ca Mau (32 per cent).

According to the department, this resulted from the slow issuance of land certificates in new urban areas and housing development projects.

Last year's investigation result of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Construction showed that the granting of land and house ownership certificates in Ha Noi and HCM City was very low, with 9.3 per cent and 30 per cent only, respectively.

Lich said that an unclear record of land use history, violations during construction and slow handling of these violations were major causes of stagnation.

The harassment of land staff in some localities also slowed down the process, according to the department.

"These problems must all be tackled to improve the situation," he said.

The ministry also said each locality should be ensured at least 10 per cent of the turnover collected from land use to spend in the granting of land use rights and house ownership certificates.

The country set a goal to basically complete the granting of certificates for land-use rights and house ownership by the end of 2013. — VNS