Apartment blocks at Phu My Hung New Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7.

Certain categories of overseas Vietnamese will have the right from September 1 onwards to buy as many houses as they want under amendments to the Housing Law and Land Law approved by the parliament Thursday.

The amendments aim at giving the above-mentioned Viet Kieu, as overseas Vietnamese are known in Vietnam, the right to own houses for themselves and their relatives to reside in the country.

Meanwhile, those that currently have a Vietnamese visa exemption and permission to reside in Vietnam three months or more can own an apartment or a house.

The amendments also halve the residency requirement for Viet Kieu property purchasers to three months from six, and grant other land rights including allowing them to rent out houses they purchase, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The amended laws regulate that overseas Vietnamese have the right to sell, lease or authorize others to manage the house, and the land it stands on. They are also allowed to use the house as a financial contribution or as a valued property in other deals, and receive compensation if the state reclaims the land.

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee said it could use tax policies to prevent the new provisions from encouraging or leading to speculation that will cause unfavorable disturbances in the local property market.

Up to 70 percent of three million Viet Kieu have Vietnamese citizenship. However, during the three years since the Housing Law took effect in 2006, only 140 have bought houses in Vietnam.

In 2007, 70 percent of US$6 billion in remittances from overseas Vietnamese was invested in production and business, including property trading; and 20 percent was used to buy houses in Vietnam under the ownership of their relatives and friends.

A government report on the issue had estimated that the number of overseas Vietnamese buying houses in Vietnam will go up to around 1,400 a year if the amendments are approved.

The National Assembly, Vietnam’s legislature, will end its month-long session today.

Reported by Bao Van