Global Vietnam Lawyers would like to introduce our valued readers to an article by Ms. Nguyen Kim Nhu titled “Real estate identification codes: A “key” to market transparency and the hidden challenges behind the numbers” published in The Saigon Times, 11-2026 (1.839) on March 12, 2026.
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Digital transformation is steadily reshaping how markets are managed and operated — including the real estate sector, a large-scale market with inherent legal risks. Yet unlike many other sectors, real estate continues to face a familiar paradox: asset values keep rising, while legal information remains fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to verify.
Against this backdrop, real estate identification codes — formally recognized for the first time in Vietnam’s legal framework — are being positioned as a critical tool to enhance transparency, standardize data, reduce disputes, and facilitate safer transactions.
When real estate identification codes gain legal recognition
Previously, land law primarily focused on cadastral records, land databases, and the management of land parcel information. Each parcel has typically been identified through details such as parcel number, map sheet number, address, area, and land-use purpose. In practice, state authorities have long assigned internal codes to land parcels or cadastral records to facilitate storage, retrieval, and data updates. However, these codes have largely been technical in nature — serving internal administrative purposes rather than functioning as legally independent real estate identification codes.
This approach is now modified via Decree No. 357/2025/ND-CP, dated 31 December 2025, on the development and management of information systems and databases for housing and the real estate market (effective from 1 March 2026) (“Decree 357”). Under Decree 357, an electronic identification code for real estate products (including housing and floor areas within construction works) is defined as an alphanumeric string of up to 40 characters, uniquely assigned to each housing unit (apartment or standalone house) or real estate asset within a construction project, and saved in the housing and real estate information system and database.
Put simply, a real estate identification code is a sequence of characters assigned to a specific property to uniquely identify that asset within the management system. From a policy perspective, this marks a step in line with the broader trajectory of digital transformation, laying the groundwork for the standardization and interoperability of real estate data nationwide. Similar to other sectors — such as population, business registration, or transport — such codes have become a familiar tool, enabling data sharing across regulatory bodies and reducing the risk of information discrepancies.
From practical demand to the legal value of real estate identification codes
Prior to the issuance of Decree 357, a nationwide 90-day campaign was carried out to enrich and cleanse the national land database (from 1 September to 30 November 2025). The campaign revealed a striking reality: while Vietnam has approximately 62.49 million land parcels, only 39% met the “accurate–complete–clean–live” standard after classification and verification. The remainder contained incomplete, inconsistent, or unverified information.[1] This situation underscores the urgent need to standardize and harmonize real estate data. Against this backdrop, the formalization of real estate identification codes is not merely a technical measure, but a significant step forward in both legal development and market governance. By assigning a unique identifier to each property, such codes help eliminate inconsistencies where the same asset is described differently across various records, transactions, and management systems.
For real estate enterprises, property identification codes enable more efficient portfolio management and help reduce legal due diligence costs in transactions such as acquisitions, mergers, or capital raising. For banks and credit institutions, they provide an important basis for improving valuation quality and the risk management of collateral. In addition, real estate identification codes facilitate data interoperability across land administration, taxation, notarization, and the registration of secured transactions.
However, one fundamental point should be emphasized: despite being recognized under Decree 357, real estate identification codes — in whatever form — cannot replace the Certificate of Land Use Rights and Ownership of Land-Attached Assets (LURC), at least under the forthcoming regulation on property identification codes, the current legal regime governing such certificates, and existing public management practices. The LURC will continue to serve as the sole legal instrument establishing and evidencing rights over real estate. Identification codes or identifiers stored in land administration systems merely support identification, search, and management, and do not constitute an independent legal basis for the establishment or transfer of rights.
From a longer-term perspective, real estate identification codes may evolve beyond their current identification function. As data infrastructure and digital transformation continue to be developed, information on asset characteristics, legal status, planning, transaction history, financial obligations, and encumbrances could gradually be integrated and linked through such codes. From a technical standpoint, this approach is feasible. However, expanding the informational scope of real estate identification codes should be viewed as a future development trajectory rather than an outcome achievable in the short term. At present, these codes are best understood as reference points and data connectors — forming the foundation for data interoperability across different management systems — rather than as tools capable of fully and instantaneously reflecting the complete legal status of a property.
Real estate identification codes and the potential to reprice the property market
The issuance of Decree 357 signals the State’s formal adoption of real estate identification codes as a long-term regulatory tool. If implemented as intended, such codes would go beyond mere data management instruments. At a deeper level, they could reshape how prices are set in the market, making real estate valuation more transparent and equitable.
At present, property prices are largely shaped by fragmented sources of information — broker representations, advertisements, off-market transactions, or other informal data. Once each property is assigned a unique identification code, accompanied by verifiable legal and transactional histories (including transfer prices, mortgages, and planning status), the market gains a reliable reference point. In that context, property prices would no longer be figures unilaterally set by one party, but outcomes that can be cross-checked against historical data and comparable assets. Such a mechanism would significantly reduce information noise — a factor that has, in many periods, contributed to unstable price fluctuations in the real estate market.
Hidden challenges behind the numbers
While the legal framework has been put in place, the greatest challenge lies in implementation. Integrating real estate identification codes into existing systems requires synchronized technical infrastructure, as well as close coordination among regulatory authorities. Without such alignment, these codes risk becoming merely another layer of data — adding complexity without delivering meaningful value to the market.
More importantly, although fundamentally asset-related, real estate identification codes — when linked with other datasets — can effectively become “connectors” to personal data. Once tied to information such as the owner’s name, ID card number, date of birth, address, transaction history (purchases, sales, inheritance, gifts), and legal status (being mortgaged, or under dispute), the aggregated dataset could readily identify a specific individual. Then, the knot between market transparency and privacy protection becomes a critical issue. It must be addressed through well-designed technical solutions, including intelligent role-based access controls that ensure compliance with personal data protection laws.
Another risk lies in the tendency of “circumventing” proper due diligence — treating real estate identification codes as a substitute for full legal due diligence. In practice, real estate transactions still require multiple mandatory steps, including verification of land use right certificates, planning information, encumbrances, financial obligations to the State, and registration of changes. While identification codes can facilitate faster lookup and cross-referencing, they cannot fully and instantaneously capture all legal risks arising in a transaction. Treating such codes as a form of “legal passport” risks oversimplifying essential due diligence processes, thereby increasing the likelihood of disputes and legal liabilities for involved parties.
For real estate identification codes to be truly effective, the key challenge lies not in the legal provisions themselves, but in effective implementation, inter-agency coordination, and appropriate data protection. Only when deployed in a coordinated, controlled manner — with due respect for individual privacy — can these codes fulfill their role as an effective tool for State management and for the stable, sustainable development of the real estate market.
[1] https://xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn/thu-thap-so-hoa-du-lieu-voi-cac-so-do-da-cap-nhung-chua-duoc-dua-vao-co-so-du-lieu-119250911102415618.htm
