Real Estate Near Defense Areas: Restrictions usually arises against the background where a developer wants to build a housing and commercial project on land adjoining defence land, and plans to sell part of the product to foreigners.
The analysis below walks through the legal framework in force on 20 October 2026, how that framework applies to restrictions on real estate near defence areas, a safe implementation sequence and the risks investors typically discover only once restrictions on real estate near defence areas has reached its completion stage.
The legal framework governing restrictions on real estate near defence areas
A real-estate project in restrictions on real estate near defence areas must be tested simultaneously against the Land Law 31/2024/QH15, the Real Estate Business Law 29/2023/QH15 and the planning and defence opinions for sensitive areas, so areas requiring defence and security assurance are set by list and planning issued by the competent authority, and a project inside or adjoining them is limited simultaneously in foreign-buyer eligibility, building height by airspace clearance and appraisal content at permitting Experience with restrictions on real estate near defence areas shows real time is lost not at signing but at clarifying the issue of what restrictions apply to a real-estate project near a military zone after filing, so investing in clarifying it at the start is always cheaper than repairing it later.
The Land Law No. 31/2024/QH15 (in force since 1 August 2024) together with Decree 102/2024/ND-CP forms the land framework for restrictions on real estate near defence areas, and applied to this case the company must bear in mind that a developer wants to build a housing and commercial project on land adjoining defence land, and plans to sell part of the product to foreigners A quick test for restrictions on real estate near defence areas is placing the draft document beside the current licence and asking what in the issue of can foreigners buy homes near sensitive areas that licence does not yet cover, because every gap will be pointed out by the receiving authority.
For a sector without international commitments in restrictions on real estate near defence areas, the Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 applies a conditional-sector review mechanism rather than an absolute ban, so the correct conclusion is that the biggest risk is the developer selling units to foreigners or designing height beyond the limit before obtaining the defence opinion on the project area, so those units cannot transact and the design must be redone after sales have opened Partners and banks usually read restrictions on real estate near defence areas through their own lens before the state authority does, and their first question almost always circles around is building height restricted, so a written answer prepared in advance is not optional.
Analysing the questions investors ask around restrictions on real estate near defence areas
Answering the question of what restrictions apply to a real-estate project near a military zone correctly starts from the company’s own registration documents in restrictions on real estate near defence areas, because the same question put to two different registration files receives two different procedural answers. The question of can foreigners buy homes near sensitive areas is where the hidden cost of restrictions on real estate near defence areas usually sits, because handling it superficially spawns another round of registration amendments and explanations that no project team budgeted for at the start.
Analysing the question of is building height restricted requires separating what the law states clearly from what still depends on the local handling authority’s practice, because mixing the two is the source of most wrong decisions around restrictions on real estate near defence areas. The question of what security appraisal applies when a construction permit is issued deserves its own internal paper for restrictions on real estate near defence areas, stating the basis, the responsible owner and the completion mark, instead of an oral answer in a meeting that each person remembers differently.
Advisory practice shows restrictions on real estate near defence areas usually fails not at a big step but at one small postponed detail, and that detail almost always belongs to the group of issues the question of is building height restricted touches.
A safe implementation sequence for restrictions on real estate near defence areas
- Open restrictions on real estate near defence areas with a review session involving all three sides, legal, accounting and operations, because missing any one side means the plan gets rebuilt when that side finds its own problem.
- Lock the framework agreement for restrictions on real estate near defence areas before touching state procedures, allocating clearly who bears the cost and who bears obligations arising before and after the effective date, especially around the issue of can foreigners buy homes near sensitive areas.
- Run the registration part of restrictions on real estate near defence areas on a one-change-at-a-time principle, verifying the returned result after each step, instead of sending many changes at once and locking an early error into later steps.
- Check the cash flows of restrictions on real estate near defence areas separately: which account receives, which account pays, and which vouchers prove the flow’s validity before the tax authority and the bank, including the investment capital account where a foreign investor joins the flow.
- After restrictions on real estate near defence areas completes, run one post-completion review within a single reporting cycle to catch missed obligations, and record the execution lessons into the internal file for the next restructuring.
Risks to anticipate in restrictions on real estate near defence areas
The most distinctive risk of restrictions on real estate near defence areas lies in the following point. The biggest risk is the developer selling units to foreigners or designing height beyond the limit before obtaining the defence opinion on the project area, so those units cannot transact and the design must be redone after sales have opened. The second risk of restrictions on real estate near defence areas rarely sits in the documents the parties sign with each other but in the state obligations running underneath in parallel, such as tax finalisation, the labour plan or licence adjustments, and it is that layer that returns as back-tax or penalties after restrictions on real estate near defence areas has closed. A further risk of restrictions on real estate near defence areas is the chain effect from the issue of can foreigners buy homes near sensitive areas: one unsettled point at the head of the chain amplifies into registration delay, tax figure discrepancies and lost partner confidence at its end.
In short, restrictions on real estate near defence areas is only safe when the company handles all three layers together, the legal basis, the supporting file and the registration sequence, instead of optimising one layer and letting the other two become the bottleneck at completion. Before starting on restrictions on real estate near defence areas, the investor should require a written mapping of the intended plan against the legal instruments in force on the implementation date, because that mapping is the document that best protects the company when regulators or partners ask questions later.
Frequently asked questions: restrictions on real estate near defence areas
What restrictions apply to a real-estate project near a military zone?
On the question of what restrictions apply to a real-estate project near a military zone, the first thing to clarify for restrictions on real estate near defence areas is whether it belongs to the basis layer, the file layer or the sequence layer, because each layer needs a different kind of evidence to answer and carries a different risk if answered wrongly. More specifically, areas requiring defence and security assurance are set by list and planning issued by the competent authority, and a project inside or adjoining them is limited simultaneously in foreign-buyer eligibility, building height by airspace clearance and appraisal content at permitting.
Can foreigners buy homes near sensitive areas?
The question of can foreigners buy homes near sensitive areas is usually asked by clients at the end of preparing restrictions on real estate near defence areas, yet experience shows it should be answered at the beginning, because its answer changes how every remaining step is arranged. More specifically, a developer wants to build a housing and commercial project on land adjoining defence land, and plans to sell part of the product to foreigners.
Is building height restricted?
Answering directly the question of is building height restricted: in restrictions on real estate near defence areas, the first point to lock is the legal basis and original file of this very case, because conclusions drawn from another deal are reference only and cannot replace checking the instruments currently in force. More specifically, the biggest risk is the developer selling units to foreigners or designing height beyond the limit before obtaining the defence opinion on the project area, so those units cannot transact and the design must be redone after sales have opened.
What security appraisal applies when a construction permit is issued?
On the question of what security appraisal applies when a construction permit is issued, practice in Vietnam shows the outcome of restrictions on real estate near defence areas depends more on the quality of preparation before filing than on filing speed, because a file consistent across the relevant authorities is rarely sent back for amendment. More specifically, procedurally, the company must close out the whole file chain of restrictions on real estate near defence areas, from the written agreement and registration with the competent authority to document retention, because a single missing link is enough to have the entire plan sent back to the start.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council