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QUESTION:

 Me and wife have been saving up for a while. We wish to buy an apartment for long-term living. However, our friends keep preventing us from doing that since people are saying that you would lose your apartment after 50 years using when it ran out of land use term. Please help me out with our concern cause it's a huge amount of money that our family have been saving. 

ANSWER:

Clause 3 Article 126 Land Law 2013 regulates:

For projects on construction of houses for sale or for a combination of sale and rent or for lease- purchase, the land use term shall be determined in accordance with the duration of the project. Those who buy houses associated with land use rights may use land for a long and stable term but must not exceed 50 years. Under special circumstance, the term must not exceed 70 years

At the expiry of the term, if the land users still have land use needs, the State shall consider an extension which must not exceed the term prescribed in this Clause.

According to Clause 1 Article 99 Law on housing 2014, The useful life of an apartment building is determined according to the class of the construction and conclusion on quality assessment provided by the housing authority of province where the apartment buildings prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article are located. The People’s Committee of the province shall grant funding to carry out the housing quality assessment.

According to Clause 2 Article 99 Law on housing 2014, when the useful life of the apartment building expires as prescribed in law on construction or the apartment building is seriously damaged, or in danger of collapse, or unsafe for its occupiers, the housing authority of province shall carry out the housing quality inspection following procedures below:

In the first circumstance: The apartment building is still qualified and safe for occupiers then its owner(s) are entitled to use it for a period stated in the conclusion

In the second circumstance: The apartment building is seriously damaged, in danger of collapse, or unsafe for its occupiers, the housing authority of province shall issue the conclusion on housing quality inspection and send a report to the People’s Committee of the province, then send a notification to the homeowner. 

Concerning about your situation, after 50 years under usage, if the apartment building is still qualified for safety then you can continue to use it; if the level of safety of the apartment building is no longer qualified then it shall be dismantled to be rebuilt. Owners of these apartments above will be relocated. The owners have the right to continue proceeding land use right of these apartment building according to Clause 3 Article 99 Law on housing 2014; in case dismantling to construct another building then the land use right of apartment building settlement shall be proceeded according to Clause 3 Article 99 Law on housing 2014.

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