The question came from a Vietnamese reader whose American boyfriend has lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City for about five years, teaching English.
The couple’s situation is common: the boyfriend rents an apartment in An Khanh Ward, in the area formerly known as District 2, and when the landlord recently decided to sell, he wanted to buy it. Convenient location, long-term plans in Vietnam, willing buyer meets willing seller.
The law says no.
Under Article 17 of the 2023 Housing Law, which took effect on Aug. 1, 2024, foreign individuals are permitted to own residential property in Vietnam. But Clause 2 of the same article limits how they can acquire it. A foreigner may buy commercial housing from a project developer or from another foreign organization or individual who already owns property in Vietnam. Buying directly from a Vietnamese homeowner on the secondary market is not permitted.
Lawyer Ha Hai, responding to the reader’s question, confirmed that signing a purchase contract directly with a Vietnamese homeowner who is not the project developer would not comply with the law. The restriction catches many long-term foreign residents off guard, particularly those who have rented for years and developed a relationship with their landlord.
The eligibility requirements themselves are straightforward. A foreign individual must be legally permitted to enter Vietnam and must not hold diplomatic or consular immunity. Someone who has been working in the country for five years on a valid visa meets these conditions.
But eligibility to own does not mean freedom to buy from any seller.
A foreigner looking to purchase must also verify that the apartment is in a commercial housing project approved for sale to foreigners and that the project has not exceeded the foreign ownership cap. Under Article 19 of the Housing Law, foreign individuals and organizations may own no more than 30% of the total apartments in a single condominium building. For detached houses including villas and row houses, the cap is 250 units per area with a population equivalent to one ward. If a project has already hit its cap, no additional foreign purchases will be approved.
There is also a time limit. Under Article 20, foreign individuals may own property for a maximum of 50 years from the date their ownership certificate is issued. The term may be extended once for up to another 50 years. This is a significant consideration for anyone planning to settle in Vietnam permanently.
One important exception could work in the couple’s favor. The Housing Law provides that a foreigner married to a Vietnamese citizen residing in Vietnam may own property with the same rights as a Vietnamese national, including indefinite ownership and no restriction on who they can buy from. If the reader and her boyfriend were to marry, he could legally purchase the apartment directly from the Vietnamese landlord, a pathway not available to unmarried foreign buyers.
Hai advised that foreigners unfamiliar with property law should either buy from the project developer directly, where the legal department can handle compliance, or purchase from an existing foreign owner. In both cases, all payments must be made through a licensed credit institution in Vietnam, as required by Article 21 of the Housing Law.
Engaging a Vietnamese lawyer to review the transaction is also recommended, particularly since most legal documentation is in Vietnamese and local procedures can be difficult to navigate without professional guidance.
Vietnam’s property market has drawn growing interest from foreign buyers in recent years, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City and resort destinations such as Phu Quoc, Da Nang and Nha Trang. The 2023 Housing Law expanded foreign ownership rights compared to the previous 2014 law, but the restrictions on secondary-market purchases from Vietnamese individuals remain a blind spot that catches many prospective buyers by surprise.
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