The Latest Changes to Land Price Tables and Land Price Frameworks under Decree 226

Decree No. 226/2025/ND-CP, effective from August 15, abolishes the regulations in Decree No. 96/2019/ND-CP regarding the land price framework.

Public land can now be valued based on commercial land

Previously, Point d, Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree No. 71/2024/ND-CP stipulated:

For land used for office buildings of state agencies, land for public service facilities, land used for public purposes without business purposes, religious land, belief land, cemeteries, funeral homes, cremation facilities, and columbarium facilities, the land price shall be determined based on the price of land with the same use purpose in the surrounding area. If the land price table does not contain a price for that type of land, the land price shall be based on residential land prices in the surrounding area.

This regulation has now been amended and supplemented under Clause 7, Article 1 of Decree 226 as follows:

• For land used for office buildings, public service facilities, public purposes without business purposes, religious or belief land, cemeteries, funeral homes, cremation facilities, and columbarium facilities, the land price shall still be determined based on land with the same use purpose in the surrounding area.

• If no price is available in the land price table, the land price may be based on either residential land prices or commercial/service land prices in the surrounding area.

• Specifically, for land used for public service facilities, if no comparable land price exists, the valuation shall be based on commercial/service land or non-agricultural production land in the surrounding area to ensure suitability with local conditions.

Thus, under Decree 226, public land without business purposes may now be valued according to commercial/service land prices if no comparable public land price exists in the table.

Commune-level People’s Committees authorized to build land price tables

Previously, Clause 4, Article 13 of Decree 71/2024 assigned the responsibility for building land price tables to provincial-level People’s Committees, who would direct departments, district-level People’s Committees, and management boards of high-tech and economic zones.

However, since Vietnam has restructured its local government to a two-tier system, Decree 226/2025 (Clause 1, Article 7) now assigns this responsibility to commune-level People’s Committees, replacing the former district-level role.

Change in authority to select land valuation organizations

Previously, Clause 5, Article 13 of Decree 71 assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to select an organization to conduct land valuation through bidding procedures. If no bidder applied, the department could extend the bidding once. If still unsuccessful, the department would assign the task to an eligible public land valuation unit.

Now, Clause 8, Article 1 of Decree 226 revises this:

Depending on local conditions, the provincial-level land management authority may place direct orders, assign tasks to qualified public valuation units, or conduct bidding procedures to select land valuation organizations.

This adjustment reflects the recent government restructuring, in which the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has been merged into the Department of Agriculture and Environment. Today, provincial land management authorities may include the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Land Registration Offices, and Land Development Organizations.

Agricultural land within residential plots may see price adjustments

Clause 11, Article 1 of Decree 226 also amends Clause 2, Article 20 of Decree 71/2024 regarding criteria for determining land locations in land price tables.

The Provincial People’s Councils shall set criteria for determining land positions and the number of land categories in the price tables. They may also increase or decrease prices based on favorable or unfavorable factors affecting land use, including:

• Commercial/service land or non-agricultural business land with high profitability potential.

• Agricultural land located within residential areas, within ward boundaries, or within the same plot as a house.

• Residential plots with conditions more favorable or less favorable compared to others in the same category.

Compared to previous regulations, Decree 226 newly includes agricultural land within the same plot as residential houses as a case where land prices may be adjusted upward or downward.

Author: Duong Duong
Source: Financial Security News (An ninh tiền tệ)