Revolution in the land sector: new decree brings big changes!

Revolution in the land sector: new decree brings big changes!

The Vietnamese government issued important regulations on the decentralization and delegation of powers of local authorities in the land sector with Decree 151/2025/ND-CP on June 16, 2025. This decree represents a crucial step in the restructuring of the administration and establishes clear transitional provisions for applications for land allocation, land lease and changes in land use purpose submitted before July 1, 2025. In particular, applications that fall under the jurisdiction of the Provincial People's Committee will be processed by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee in accordance with the legal procedures in force until then.

In addition, vietnames.vn reports that applications under the jurisdiction of the district people's committee will be handled by the chairman of the municipal people's committee and will be processed according to the new procedures. Existing property lease agreements that were concluded before the deadline also remain valid. The land register files and the certificates of land use rights are also affected by the previous legal procedures and will be treated accordingly.

New administrative apparatus and decentralization

From January 1, 2026, new land price lists are to be announced and applied, with the responsibility for preparing these lists resting with the Provincial People's Committee. An important element of the reform is that authorities should not require corrections to property records only after the establishment of two-tier local governments, but should proceed in parallel with the administrative procedures.

Public announcement of municipal spatial planning is also required in order to ensure transparency and traceability of decisions. On June 12, the country's National Assembly passed a resolution regulating the arrangement of administrative units at the provincial level for 2025. Here, the number of provinces and cities is reduced from 63 to 34, indicating significant restructuring.

Decentralization processes in Germany

Decentralization in Vietnam is part of a profound change in state structure, as Germany's experience also shows. This country has made a name for itself internationally by promoting decentralization processes, drawing on its own experiences with a federal state structure. German development cooperation offers great models to support local self-governments, which must be politically, administratively and fiscally equipped to meet the new requirements.

Overall, it is clear that the reforms in Vietnam must be designed flexibly and individually in order to meet the country's requirements. These sensitive adjustments lead to a new distribution of roles between levels of government and administration and enormously change the relationship between citizens and the state. Decentralization is therefore understood not only as a redistribution of tasks and financial resources, but also as a new approach to the relationship between the different levels of administration.

In conclusion, the new administrative boundaries announced from June 30, 2025 and operating with the new model of two-tier local government from July 1, 2025 will usher in a new era of administration in Vietnam here. For more information you can refer to the posts by vietnames.vn and bmz.de fall back.