Vietnam houses are being destroyed in Phu Quoc. More than 700 Vietnam houses have seen their properties authorities demolished by Phu Quoc authorities just this year alone. The reason? They were illegally built by unscrupulous developers and individual investors on public land in Phu Quoc. In other words, 774 villas and counting are to be taken down.

Will Your Vietnam Houses Be Safe in Vietnam?

For foreign investors, a vital concern is the security of their Vietnam houses. When venturing into the real estate market in Vietnam, how can you ensure the continued ownership of the house or apartment you purchase? In the United States, the rules are clear: meeting mortgage obligations and consistently paying property taxes safeguard your ownership, regardless of circumstances. However, navigating Vietnam’s unique real estate landscape requires caution. The risk of losing ownership of your property arises not from property tax default—non-existent in Vietnam—but from the potential purchase of a property lacking legitimate construction rights.

Phu Quoc – A Tourist Attraction In Vietnam

Imagine this: You live in a busy city like Saigon or Hanoi and decide to buy a property near the beach for your leisure time. In Vietnam, there are many options for this, and a lot of people choose Phu Quoc Island as their second home. Located in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast of Cambodia, Phu Quoc is famous for its beautiful white-sand beaches and resorts. Most of which are on the palm-fringed southwest coast. It’s like what Phuket Island in Thailand was about 25 years ago. What’s interesting is that more than half of Phu Quoc Island is actually part of Phu Quoc National Park, which means it’s considered public land.

Public Land Violations And Building Without Proper Permits

In April of this year, inspectors of the island found several problems related to land use:

• Improper Land Use: Officials found that 202 places were sold as properties. But almost 80 of them were built on land not meant for housing. Some were on farmland, some on other kinds of land, and some didn’t have the right paperwork.
• Forest Land Violations: In Phu Quoc City, officials found 986 cases of people not using forest land correctly. Covering an area of over 200 hectares. But even after finding these cases, they only did something about 274 of them, leaving more than 70% still waiting. Also, there were 385 cases where people were building on forest land that’s part of Phu Quoc National Park, and they haven’t solved these yet. The national park isn’t managed well. Which makes it hard to figure out where over 1,000 hectares of forest land that people are using actually came from.
• Misuse of Public Land: The inspection team found that the People’s Committee of An Thoi ward. Which is similar to a County Office in the U.S., did some things wrong. They carelessly rented out 800 square meters of public land and lent over 2,000 square meters of land. They also gave 220 square meters of land to two officials and civil servants against the rules. What’s more, the area collected 1.5 billion VND in land rent but didn’t give this money to the Government as they should have by law.

Check out the latest video featuring Attorney Ken Duong, as he will discuss one of the most scandalous events in Phu Quoc that have significantly impacted the Vietnam real estate market!