Foreign property ownership in Vietnam: the rules that actually bind
Tu Anh Nguyen (Ann) · 26 October 2026 · 4 min read
Most English-language summaries of Vietnamese foreign ownership rules are either three years out of date or written as marketing. This one states what the current instruments say, flags what they do not say, and marks where the practical risk sits.
- 30% — maximum share of residential apartments in one apartment building that foreign organisations and individuals may own, combined
- 250 — maximum landed houses foreign buyers may own in an area with a population equivalent to one ward
- 10,000 — the population benchmark used to define that ward-sized area
- 50 years — maximum ownership term from the date the certificate is issued, with provision for extension
The governing instruments
Two documents matter, and you should ask any agent to name them:
- Housing Law 2023, Law No. 27/2023/QH15
- Decree 95/2024/ND-CP, which provides the implementing detail
Both have applied since 1 August 2024. If a brochure or an agent quotes rules without reference to these, the information is probably inherited from the previous regime.
Who qualifies
Foreign individuals who are permitted to enter Vietnam. In practice, at signing you will be asked for:
- a valid foreign passport
- a written declaration that you are not entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities
- documentation showing the acquisition route complies with the rules
There is no requirement to hold a particular visa class in the way some markets require, but the entry condition is real and is checked.
What you can acquire
Apartments and landed houses inside commercial housing projects — by purchase or lease-purchase from the project investor, or by gift or inheritance of commercial housing within such projects.
Two exclusions matter:
- Areas designated for national defence and security are off limits. This is why some otherwise attractive locations are quietly unavailable to foreign buyers.
- You are acquiring housing within a project, not a standalone land plot. The Vietnamese system does not convey freehold land to foreign individuals.
The 30% cap, read carefully
Article 5(2) of Decree 95/2024/ND-CP sets the ceiling at 30% of the residential apartments in the building.
The detail that catches people out: where a development has several blocks or sections sharing one podium, the 30% is counted separately for each block. A developer cannot sell 60% of one tower to foreign buyers and nothing in the next tower to average it out.
A project can have hundreds of unsold units and still be closed to you, because the foreign quota in that specific block is already full. Ask before you fall in love with a floor plan:
"What percentage of residential apartments in this block is already held by foreign owners, and will you confirm the remaining quota in writing?"
A developer that will not answer in writing is telling you something.
The 250-house ceiling for landed property
For landed houses — villas, townhouses — the limit works differently. It is not per project. It applies to an area whose population is equivalent to one ward, benchmarked at 10,000 people under Housing Law 2023.
Within that area, foreign organisations and individuals may own a maximum of 250 landed houses in total, no matter how many separate projects sit inside the area. Once the 250 is reached, further landed houses in that area are closed to foreign acquisition.
The practical consequence: in a district with multiple villa projects marketing to foreign buyers, the quota is a shared, depleting resource across all of them. Early buyers get it; later buyers find the door shut, sometimes after a deposit has been taken.
Where an acquisition goes beyond the permitted limits, the foreign owner is entitled to the value of the property rather than ownership of the property itself. That is a materially worse outcome than it sounds: you become an unsecured claimant on a number, in a market where you cannot choose the timing of realisation.
The 50-year term
Ownership runs for up to 50 years from the date the ownership certificate is issued, with provision for extension.
Two things to note now, covered in detail in a separate article:
- The clock starts at certificate issuance, not at contract signature or handover. Those dates can be years apart in Vietnam.
- A foreign individual married to a Vietnamese citizen is treated differently under the law. If this applies to you, it is worth specific legal advice, because it changes the economics substantially.
What the rules do not settle
Three areas where the text does not give you an answer and the practice does:
Whether the quota in your building is actually available. The law sets the ceiling; only the developer and the authority know the current count. Get it in writing.
Whether the project itself is eligible. The caps are irrelevant if the project is not approved to sell to foreign buyers at all. That is a separate document from a separate authority.
How your money gets in and out. Nothing above addresses payment channels — and the documentation of your inbound transfer is what determines whether sale proceeds can leave the country later. That is the single most common unforced error foreign buyers make in Vietnam.
- Confirmation the project is approved to sell housing to foreign buyers
- Remaining foreign quota for the specific block, dated
- The Department of Construction letter confirming the project is eligible to sell future housing
- The bank guarantee covering the developer's obligations to you
- Confirmation of the payment channel and the documents you will receive for each instalment
Frequently asked questions
Can foreigners legally buy property in Vietnam?
Yes, within limits. Foreign individuals who are permitted to enter Vietnam may own apartments and landed houses inside commercial housing projects, outside areas designated for national defence and security. The framework is Housing Law 2023 (Law No. 27/2023/QH15) with Decree 95/2024/ND-CP, in force since 1 August 2024.
What is the 30% rule?
Under Article 5(2) of Decree 95/2024/ND-CP, foreign organisations and individuals combined may own no more than 30% of the residential apartments in an apartment building. Where a development has several blocks or sections sharing one podium, the 30% is counted separately for each block, so the quota cannot be concentrated in one tower.
How many landed houses can foreigners own in one area?
A maximum of 250 landed houses in an area with a population equivalent to one ward, benchmarked at 10,000 people. The ceiling applies to the area as a whole, regardless of how many projects sit inside it. Once 250 is reached, no further landed houses in that area can be acquired by foreign buyers.
How long can a foreigner own a property in Vietnam?
Up to 50 years from the date the ownership certificate is issued, with provision for extension. A foreign individual married to a Vietnamese citizen is treated differently and should seek specific legal advice on their status.
What cannot a foreign buyer acquire?
Land use rights as such, and property in areas designated for national defence and security. Foreign individuals acquire housing within commercial housing projects, not standalone land plots.
Sources
- Decree 95/2024/ND-CP guiding the Housing Law — quantity of housing foreign entities may own (Thu Vien Phap Luat) — thuvienphapluat.vn
- Full text, Decree 95/2024/ND-CP — thuvienphapluat.vn
- Analysis of the 250-house ceiling per 10,000-population area (ATA Legal) — ata-legal.com
- Vietnam Briefing — rules on foreign property ownership — www.vietnam-briefing.com
I am Tu Anh Nguyen (Ann), a real estate consultant at IQI Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. Before this I spent nearly eight years in Kuala Lumpur and moved home six times there — so I have been the foreigner trying to read someone else's property market, in someone else's language.
What that means in practice: I will put the awkward answers in writing. Remaining foreign quota in a specific building, the Department of Construction eligibility letter, the bank guarantee, the real walking distance to a metro station, what a unit like yours actually resold for. If a deal does not stand up, I would rather tell you before you wire a deposit.
Figures in this article come from published research and official documents, listed under Sources. This is general information for research purposes, not legal, tax or investment advice. Vietnamese property law is applied case by case — have a Vietnam-qualified lawyer review your specific transaction. Last updated: 26 October 2026.
Real estate consultant at IQI Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. Nearly eight years living and working in Kuala Lumpur before returning to Vietnam. Works in English and Vietnamese.
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