Buying a condominium apartment is a high-value transaction tied to decades of living — contracts missing mandatory clauses are the source of most disputes over area, management fees, maintenance funds and handover timelines. This article systematizes the mandatory clauses under Housing Law No. 27/2023/QH15 and Real Estate Business Law No. 29/2023/QH15 (both effective 01/8/2024, in force as of 14/10/2026).
State the applicable scenario clearly: the law separates two scenarios with different frameworks — (i) completed apartments (Articles 163 + 164 of the Housing Law) and (ii) off-plan apartments (Articles 23, 25, 44 of the Real Estate Business Law + Form Ia of Decree 96/2024). Do not mix the two scenarios when drafting.
Scenario 1 — completed apartments: mandatory contents (Article 163)
Under Article 163 of the 2023 Housing Law, a housing contract must contain 11 items:
- Full names of individuals / names of organizations and addresses of the parties;
- Description of the transacted house and of the residential land parcel attached to it;
- Transaction value;
- Payment term and method;
- House handover time;
- Warranty period (for newly built houses);
- Rights and obligations of the parties;
- Commitments of the parties;
- Other agreements;
- Effective date of the contract;
- Signing date; signatures with full names (organizations affix seals if any, stating the signatory’s position).
For condominium apartments specifically (Article 163.2), 7 additional items must be stated: the common-owned and common-used portions; the apartment building’s usage term per the design dossier; the privately-owned usable area; the floor area of the apartment; the purpose of common portions per the approved design; the operation management service price (where the first homeowners’ conference has not yet been held); and the maintenance-fund payment obligation, amount and receiving account details.
Article-number trap: contract contents are Article 163; notarization is Article 164 — many online articles wrongly cite Article 164 for both. Cite each correctly.
The 2% maintenance fund — separate, stated in the contract (Article 144)
Under Article 144.1 of the 2023 Housing Law: apartment buyers/lessees-purchasers must pay 2% of the apartment value as the maintenance fund for common-owned portions. This 2% is calculated separately from the sale/lease-purchase price — not bundled into it — and must be expressly stated in the contract.
Under Article 144.2: for areas retained or unsold by the investor at handover (excluding common-owned areas), the investor must pay 2% based on the highest-priced apartment in the building.
Notarization and effective date (Article 164)
- Clause 1: housing sale contracts must be notarized or certified; effectiveness runs from completion of notarization/certification.
- Clause 2: where one party is an organization (social housing, housing for the armed forces, resettlement housing), notarization is not mandatory — unless the parties so wish. Commercial apartments sold between individuals remain subject to mandatory notarization/certification.
- Clause 4: notarization at a notarial practice organization; certification at the commune-level People’s Committee where the house is located.
Scenario 2 — off-plan apartments: deposit and payment caps
For off-plan apartments, the following additional limits of the 2023 Real Estate Business Law apply:
- Deposit (Article 23): the investor may only collect deposits once eligible to put the property on the market; deposits must not exceed 5% of the sale price; the deposit agreement must state the house sale price.
- Staged payments (Article 25): the first payment must not exceed 30% of the contract value (including the deposit); subsequent payments follow construction progress but the total must not exceed 70% of the contract value before handover; where the seller is a foreign-invested economic organization, the total must not exceed 50%; the buyer pays the remainder at no more than 95% of the contract value before being granted the Certificate of land use rights and attached-asset ownership.
These figures must be exact: 5% / 30% / 70% / 50% / 95%.
Standard form: under point a, clause 2, Article 12 of Decree 96/2024/ND-CP, off-plan apartment sale contracts use Form Ia in Appendix I of that Decree.
Further note: conditions for assigning off-plan house sale contracts (Articles 49–50 of the 2023 Real Estate Business Law) belong in advisory notes, not in the main contract template.
Validity watch: draft amendments to the Housing Law and the Real Estate Business Law are expected at the October 2026 National Assembly session — not yet adopted as of 14/10/2026. Re-verify effectiveness before applying if new laws are promulgated.
FAQs
Must an apartment sale between two individuals be notarized?
Yes — under Article 164.1, housing sale contracts must be notarized or certified, except the clause-2 organizational cases.
Is the 2% maintenance fund included in the sale price?
No. It is calculated separately and must be stated in the contract (Article 144.1).
For an off-plan apartment, what is the maximum first payment?
No more than 30% of the contract value, including the deposit (capped at 5%) — under Articles 23 and 25 of the 2023 Real Estate Business Law.
Legal bases: Housing Law 27/2023/QH15 (Arts. 144, 163, 164); Real Estate Business Law 29/2023/QH15 (Arts. 23, 25, 44, 49, 50); Decrees 95/2024/ND-CP; 96/2024/ND-CP (Form Ia, Appendix I).
Need a contract, company charter or security registration dossier drafted or reviewed under Vietnamese law? Reach us via the Contact page of FLAT Law Firm.
For reference only, not legal advice.
The legal content of this article is reviewed by FLAT’s AI Legal Council and submitted to the owner for approval; it is not an opinion of a licensed lawyer and does not replace legal advice for specific cases.