HCMC - The HCMC People’s Council has approved 54 out of 74 land lots proposed by the city government for pilot commercial housing development projects under Resolution 171 of the National Assembly.

At its fourth extraordinary session, the People’s Council passed a list of sites slated for the first phase of pilot commercial housing projects in 2025, in line with Resolution 171. Of the 74 proposed sites, 54 have been approved for pilot implementation, covering a total of over six million square meters, including nearly 213,000 square meters of rice land slated for conversion. The remaining sites, which lack sufficient legal grounds, will be further reviewed and completed by the city government before being resubmitted to the People’s Council by the end of October. Under Resolution 171, businesses may negotiate directly with residents to acquire land use rights for commercial housing projects, rather than being restricted to projects on 100% residential land as currently required. Eligible land types for the pilot include agricultural land, non-residential non-agricultural land, residential land, and other land categories, provided they align with the local housing development plan and zoning. The People’s Council has tasked the city government with ensuring that projects proceed only when all legal requirements on zoning, land use, investment, housing, and real estate business are met. The list of 54 approved sites will be publicly posted on the HCMC web portal and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s website within three working days after the resolution takes effect. This pilot initiative is expected to ease bottlenecks in commercial housing development, as many sites could not previously proceed due to not being officially recognized as residential land, leaving projects stalled and investors unable to access legal land sources.