Quick Reference to Buy Property in Vietnam
Foreign individuals permitted to enter Vietnam may buy property in Vietnam, including apartments and houses in approved commercial housing projects, subject to ownership caps and location restrictions. Ownership is granted for up to 50 years, extendable once. Foreigners cannot acquire land use rights directly. Overseas Vietnamese with Vietnamese nationality enjoy rights equivalent to local Vietnamese, including direct land use rights with no quota or time limit.
Persons of Vietnamese origin without nationality gained significantly expanded rights under the 2024 Land Law, including the ability to acquire residential land use rights attached to housing. The ownership certificate, formally called the Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Houses and Other Assets Attached to Land is the only document that establishes legally registered ownership.
Introduction
Vietnam’s legal framework for foreign property ownership has developed considerably over the year. The Housing Law 2023 and Land Law 2024 clarified the direction and expanded rights, particularly for overseas Vietnamese to buy property in Vietnam. But the framework protects buyers who follow it correctly. For buyers whom do not follow the framework to buy property in Vietnam, there are higher risks awaiting.
If you are planning to buy property in Vietnam, check it out here which our real estate lawyers who advise foreign buyers in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, discuss seven patterns of failure that we encounter regularly in practice which we opine that each of such is avoidable. We also explain the legal concepts where they matter, but the focus is practical for your understanding. In particular, we explain what goes wrong when foreigners buy property in Vietnam without proper guidance, and how to structure a transaction so you could mitigate risks.




