Hai Phong to decentralize land administration procedures to commune-level authorities

On April 6, 2026, Hai Phong City’s People’s Committee announced that the city is considering decentralizing and devolving certain land-related administrative powers from the district level to the commune level. The move is intended to align with a two-tier governance model, shorten administrative procedures, and improve the management and use of land resources to accelerate urbanization.

Commune-level People’s Committee to exercise seven land powers

Hai Phong City plans to delegate a number of land-sector tasks and land administration procedures to the commune-level People’s Committee in seven groups of powers, as provided by the Land Law.

Under the proposal, the commune-level People’s Committee would:

• Decide on land allocation, land leasing, permission to change land use, and to extend and adjust the land-use term for individuals (point a, paragraph 2, Article 123).
• Decide land allocation to communities (point b, paragraph 2, Article 123).
• Decide land allocation of agricultural land to individuals (point b, paragraph 2, Article 178).
• Issue decisions to allocate land to individuals in cases specified at points a, b, c, d, đ, e (paragraph 3 and paragraph 6, Article 124).
• Approve in writing cases of land transfer, lease of land-use rights, and capital contributions using land to implement investment projects (point a, paragraph 2, Article 123).
• Approve or not approve plans for land-use with multi-purpose purposes (point a, paragraph 2, Article 123).
• Approve land-use plans for compensation and site clearance in rural upgrading and infrastructure projects (points b, c, paragraph 3, Article 219).
• Approve or not approve agricultural land-use plans (paragraph 2, Article 78 of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP).
• Approve agricultural land-use plans for economic organizations (paragraph 6, Article 45) and approve rice land-use plans for individuals (paragraph 7, Article 45).

Commune chairmen to exercise 12 additional powers

Hai Phong City also plans to delegate 12 powers to commune-level chairmen, including responsibilities across land recovery, land withdrawal, and land-use rights allocation.

Land recovery

• Decide to establish a Compensation, Support, and Resettlement Council (point c, paragraph 2, Article 86 of the Land Law) and issue land-recovery notices (point a, paragraph 2, Article 87).
• Issue decisions for mandatory land surveying (point đ, paragraph 2, Article 87), issue decisions to enforce mandatory surveying (paragraph 3, Article 88), establish the Enforcement Board for surveying (paragraph 1, Article 36 of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP), and approve compensation, support, and resettlement plans (point c, paragraph 3, Article 87).

Land withdrawal

• Decide to withdraw land (paragraph 2, Article 83) and related procedures (paragraphs 3, 5, 6, Article 87; paragraph 7, Article 91), and follow National Assembly Resolutions 254/2025/QH15 and 226/2025/QH15.
• Issue enforcement of land-withdrawal decisions, establish an Enforcement Board, and approve enforcement funding (paragraph 3, point a; paragraph 4, point b; paragraph 5, Article 89).

Land-use rights allocation and auctions

• Approve bidding methods for land-use rights (paragraph 4, Article 55 of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP as amended by Decree 49/2026/ND-CP), decide on auctioning land-use rights, approve starting prices for auctioned parcels, and recognize the results of land-use rights bidding under Article 229 of the Land Law for cases under point a, paragraph 2, Article 123.

Land leasing for public use

• Lease land from the agricultural land fund for public use by the commune/ward, and may withdraw land under Article 48 of the Land Law.

Implementation timeline and stated policy direction

According to assessments by the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Hai Phong’s decentralization plan indicates a reform trend in land management, covering allocation, withdrawal, and auctioning of land-use rights. The city aims to implement the delegation to commune-level authorities and commune chairmen in 2026, extending to March 1, 2027.

Hai Phong is also adjusting site-clearance compensation regulations.