Is it possible to build a hotel on residential land?

Posted date: 02/03/2021

Is it legal if I build a hotel on my residential land to do business? Thank you.

FDVN’s opinions:

Thank you for concerning FDVN’s legal services. Regarding your consulting requests, after studying the relevant legal documents, FDVN Law Firm would like to give you the following advice:

It is stipulated in Clause 1, Article 170 of the Law on Land 2013 that:

“Article 170. General obligations of land users

1. To use the land for proper purposes, in accordance with the land parcel boundaries, in compliance with regulations on the use of the depth beneath and the space above the parcel while protecting underground public facilities and in accordance with other relevant laws.”

Thus, based on the provisions cited above, land users are obliged to use the land for the right purposes assigned, leased, or recognized by the State according to the decision or the right certificate land use has been granted.

According to the information provided by you, it is possible to determine that the land that you currently have the use right is residential land. Therefore, you are obliged to use the land for the right purposes as stated in the certificate. Specifically, it is only allowed to be used for housing or other constructions for living purposes, not for other purposes such as trade or business.

On the other hand, according to Article 153 of the Law on Land 2013, commercial and service land is used for the following purposes:

+ Construction of business, service, commercial establishments,

+ Other works in service of business, services, and commerce (including headquarters, representative offices of economic organizations).

Therefore, a hotel business can be defined as a business or commercial activity. Thus, hotels must be built on commercial land under the law. That means the hotel is not allowed to be built on residential land. To be allowed to build a hotel for doing business, you have to carry out the procedure of changing the land use purpose from residential to commercial land.

According to Article 11 of Circular No. 02/2015/TT-BTNMT, cases of conversion of land use purpose without an application for permission of competent state agencies but registration for changes include:

- Convert inhabited land into non-agricultural land (not inhabited land);

Therefore, if you need to change the purpose of using residential land to commercial land to build a hotel, you don’t need to apply for permission of competent agencies but you have to register the change of the land under the law provisions on land.

Above is FDVN Law Firm's opinion for your consulting requests based on studying the relevant legal provisions. Hopefully, FDVN's advice would be helpful to you.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thanh Tra - FDVN Law Firm

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