The procedure to confirm eligibility for selling houses at many projects takes longer than the legally prescribed timeframe, prompting many experts to propose reducing pre-inspection and increasing post-inspection to shorten procedures.
Dr. Do Thi Loan, a senior expert in real estate, planning, and urban governance, and former Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), has recently sent a document to the Prime Minister, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, and relevant ministries, proposing to improve the mechanism for confirming the eligibility to sell future-formed housing.
According to Dr. Loan, the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business regulations state that the provincial-level state management agency on real estate business must issue a written response within 15 working days from receiving the developer’s notification.
However, in reality, many businesses implementing projects in Ho Chi Minh City report that processing times usually drag on for 3 to 4 months, or even longer, delaying the introduction of products to the market and increasing costs for enterprises.
The expert believes that the main cause lies not in legal regulations but in the actual processing of documents. After receipt, applications must go through multiple steps of inspection, verification, inter-disciplinary coordination, and consultation with various agencies before the Department of Construction issues the document confirming eligibility for sale.
Under the current process, in addition to preparing a complete dossier on land, planning, construction, financial obligations, bank guarantees, and foundation acceptance, the developer must also undergo foundation inspection and acceptance procedures by the Department of Construction. The dossier is then forwarded to various specialized departments of the Department and related agencies for review before being compiled and submitted to leaders for approval.
Real estate in the eastern area of Ho Chi Minh City, April 2026. Photo: Quynh Tran
Real estate in the eastern area of Ho Chi Minh City, April 2026. Photo: Quynh Tran
Dr. Loan points out that this process suffers from several bottlenecks. Among them, the foundation inspection and acceptance generate many cross-checking and verification steps; the determination of land financial obligations for many projects is prolonged; and the process of consulting various agencies and units lacks a tight binding mechanism regarding responsibility and response deadlines. In many cases, businesses must track, supplement dossiers, or urge each unit themselves during the processing.
From the above reality, Dr. Loan proposes reforming the mechanism for confirming the eligibility to sell future-formed housing in the direction of reducing pre-inspection, increasing post-inspection.
According to the proposal, businesses must still fully meet legal conditions before bringing products to the market, while self-declaring and committing to be responsible for the accuracy of their dossiers. State management agencies will strengthen inspection and review after businesses execute, instead of focusing too much on verification and coordination steps before issuing confirmation documents.
Regarding the bottleneck of land valuation, Dr. Loan proposes allowing businesses to temporarily pay land-use fees under a mechanism similar to the one applied in Hanoi, thereby avoiding project progress disruption while waiting for competent authorities to determine official financial obligations.
In cases where businesses make dishonest declarations, provide false dossiers, or bring unqualified products to the market, Dr. Loan proposes applying strict sanctions in accordance with legal regulations.
According to her, reforming the mechanism towards reducing pre-inspection, increasing post-inspection does not aim to loosen management conditions but to shorten administrative procedure times, reduce compliance costs for businesses, while still ensuring the effectiveness of state management through inspection and violation handling mechanisms.
These obstacles have also been reported by many real estate businesses recently. According to developers, delays in completing legal procedures, especially determining land-use fees and coordination between agencies, have prolonged project implementation progress and slowed down the supply of housing to the market.
A representative of a real estate business developing a project in Ho Chi Minh City stated that the procedure to confirm eligibility for sale is currently prolonged because it requires consultations with many agencies, while there is no clear binding mechanism on processing deadlines.
The enterprise proposes that the Department of Construction set response deadlines for each dossier and assign a single focal point to perform verification and compile opinions to shorten processing times. In addition, it is necessary to study a mechanism allowing developers to temporarily pay about 80% of the estimated land-use fees to continue project implementation, then settle the balance once the competent authority determines the official financial obligation.
The business representative also supports the direction of reforming the mechanism towards reducing pre-inspection and increasing post-inspection. According to this representative, businesses are ready to commit and take responsibility for the accuracy of their dossiers and accept strict penalties if they violate regulations.
What businesses need is a transparent process with clear processing deadlines. If a business violates, the management agency can absolutely strengthen post-inspection and strictly handle it according to regulations, this person said.
In the report summarizing the implementation of the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business, the Ministry of Construction stated that several regulations on future-formed real estate business still face obstacles and have not kept pace with reality. Therefore, in the draft Law on Real Estate Business (amended), the Ministry has proposed adjustments to some regulations related to the conditions for bringing future-formed real estate into business.
Phuong Uyen
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