Hanoi (VNA) 🗹– Nearly 216,000 land plots still haven't been issued usage rights certificates in Hanoi, a city official has claimed.

Vice Director of Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Van Khanh said at a conference held on January 6 that Hanoi authorities issued more than 43,000 land use rights certificates to individuals and organisations in the city in 2015. Of these, the natural resource department authorised nearly 22,000 ownership certificates for households in urban zones, while district and town authorities issued more than 21,000 certificates. In 2014, the department issued some 40,500 land use rights certificates. Khanh said, although the land management process had improved, difficulties remained. In some cases, developers, when handing over an apartment to purchasers, violated land use regulations, making it problematic for homebuyers to complete the documents required for receiving a land usage rights certificate. "Violations of land management and usage laws for uncultivated land, land used for the wrong purpose or land with unclear origins are ongoing," Khanh said. Besides this, owners and investors who have not registered their land with the authorities are contributing to the problem. Therefore, the authorities need to actively deal with the difficulties and take firm action against individuals and organisations that violate the land laws, a representative of Hanoi People's Committee said at the conference. According to Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha, land revenue contributes 10 percent to the city's resources, but this income is only part of its total value. Therefore, the city needs to enhance the land value through investment and public auctions. In 2015, the city auctioned more than 18.9ha of land, earning nearly 4.4 trillion VND (195.7 million USD). The city also revoked and changed the usage purposes of 897 projects, with a total area of 2,028ha, accounting for 52 percent of the land use plan for 2015. Hanoi People's Committee reviewed its land use plan for the period ending in 2020 and identified 18 targets for land use approved by the government. For instance, 6,796 ha has been designated for forests, 4,603ha for national defence, 3,246ha for industrial zones, 4,610ha for urban areas and 2,920ha for rural areas.-VNA