GUIDANCE ON MANAGEMENT OF PROCEEDS FROM LEASE, LEASE-PURCHASE AND SALE OF STATE-OWNED DWELLINGS; PAYMENT OF MONETARY DIFFERENCES IN RENTING PUBLIC HOUSING AND MANAGEMENT OF PROCEEDS FROM LEASE OF PUBLIC HOUSING UNDER THE GOVERNMENT’S DECREE NO. 99/2015/ND-CP DATED OCTOBER 20, 2015, SPECIFYING AND GUIDING IMPLEMENTATION OF SEVERAL ARTICLES OF THE LAW ON HOUSING  

The Minister of Finance hereby introduces the Circular providing guidance on management of proceeds from lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings; payment of monetary differences in renting public housing and management of proceeds from lease of public housing under the Government’s Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP dated October 20, 2015, specifying and guiding implementation of several articles of the Law on Housing 

1. This Circular shall elaborate on certain contents stipulated in the Government's Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP dated October 20, 2015, specifying and guiding implementation of several articles of the Law on Housing (hereinafter referred to as the Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP) regarding:

a) Management of proceeds from lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings. Management of proceeds from sale of old dwellings administered by the Ministry of National Defence shall conform to Clause 2 Article 44 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP;

b) Payment of monetary differences in renting public housing and management of proceeds from lease of public housing. 

2. Tax obligations and other financial obligations arising from the owner’s sale, disposal of sales contracts, hire-purchase, gift, grant or donation, barter, and transfer as capital contributions, of housing or dwellings, shall comply with legislative regulations on tax and other equivalents.

1. The bodies acting on behalf of the owners of state-owned dwellings, defined in Clause 1 and 2 Article 39 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP (Hereinafter referred to as the representative).

2. The bodies in the exercise of authority over state-owned dwellings defined in Clause 3 Article 39 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP (hereinafter referred to as housing authority)

3. The entities in the exercise of authority over operation of state-owned dwellings that have functions and competences in managing and operating housing or dwellings, defined in Clause 4 Article 39 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP including:

a) Public sector service providers;

b) Enterprises;

c) Other institutional entities in the exercise of authority over operation of housing or dwellings, stipulated by laws on housing.

(Hereinafter referred to as housing operations authority).

4. Other related natural or legal entities.

1. The housing operations authority shall be responsible for collecting and paying proceeds from lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings, or guiding tenants, tenant buyers and sellers of state-owned dwellings through regulatory procedures for directly depositing their payments into temporary deposit accounts, opened at the State Treasury and held by the housing authority, before the 30^th day of each month.  

2. The holder of the said account being the housing authority referred to in Clause 2 Article 2 of this Circular shall be responsible for paying expenses defined in Article 4 and 5 hereof according to the budgetary plan approved by competent authorities to the housing operations authority.

3. The housing operations authority shall, on an annual basis, assume its responsibility to prepare the budgetary plan and final accounts of receipts and expenses for submission to higher authorities to seek approval in accordance with laws on the state budget.

1. Administrative overheads, including:

1.1. Current expenses: These expenses shall be paid for regular operations within functions and responsibilities assigned by competent authorities, including:

a) Salaries, wages and allowances;

b) Social insurance, health insurance and other contributions, defined by applicable laws and regulations; 

c) Charges for public utility services, such as electricity, water and environmental sanitation, and other services;

d) Costs paid for office supplies, including office tools, accessories, filing cabinets, desks and stationery, used in its operations;

dd) Costs for regular repairs of its fixed assets;

e) Fixed asset depreciation expenses (where applicable);

g) Other expenses stipulated by laws and regulations (where applicable).

1.2. Non-current expenses (if any), including:

a) Equipment purchases;

b) Other expenses stipulated by laws and regulations (where applicable).

2. Reasonable expenses (if any), including:

a) Taxes defined by laws and regulations;

b) Regulatory fees and charges;

c) Others stipulated by laws and regulations (where applicable).

3. Expenses, referred to in Clause 1 and 2 of this Article, shall be covered by proceeds from lease of state-owned dwellings, except to the extent that these expenses have been included in the annual budget allocated to the public sector service providers in the exercise of authority over operations of housing or dwellings.

1. Cost elements, including:

a) Expenses paid to administrative staff;

b) Expenses for administrative materials;

c) Expenses for office supplies;

d) Fixed asset depreciation expenses;

dd) Taxes, fees and charges;

e) Provisions;

g) Costs for outsourced services;

h) Costs for verification of final accounts of expenses;

i) Other cash expenses.

2. Expenses, referred to in Clause 1 of this Article, shall be covered by proceeds from lease of state-owned dwellings in accordance with relevant legislative regulations.

1. Expenses, including:

a) Meeting costs;

b) Overtime pay for work activities performed by the Council on determination of selling prices of old state-owned dwellings;

c) Costs for pricing surveys (where applicable);

d) Office supply, material printing and archiving costs;

dd) Other costs directly relating to determination of selling prices of old state-owned dwellings.

2. The budget and final accounts of expenses paid to the Council on determination of selling prices of state-owned dwellings shall be prepared by the Department of Construction in accordance with laws on the state budget;

3. Expenses, referred to in Clause 1 of this Article, shall be covered by proceeds from lease-purchase or sale of state-owned dwellings according to the final accounts approved by competent authorities, except to the extent that these expenses have been included in the annual budget allocated to the Department of Construction;

4. Regulations laid down in Clause 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall also be applied to the case whereby state regulatory authorities allow establishment of the Council on determination of lease-purchasing or selling prices of state-owned dwellings.

1. Expenses subject to regulatory limits, standards and price schedule adopted by state regulatory authorities shall conform to applicable regulations.

2. Costs for public utility services shall be paid based on actual bills, or determined on the basis of workloads that need to be performed and lump-sum amounts agreed upon in service contracts.

3. With respect to expenses other than those covered by Clause 1 and 2 of this Article, the head of the housing operations authority shall be entitled to consider making any appropriate decision in compliance with current regulatory policies on financial management, and bear responsibility for this decision.

4. Regulations laid down in Clause 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall be applied to the budget preparation as a basis for selection of an entity qualifying for participation in housing operations management in accordance with laws on housing and procurement.

The entity in the exercise of authority over operations of state-owned dwellings shall be responsible for keeping separate records of expenses related to lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings. 

1. The housing operations authority shall prepare the estimate of receipts and expenses in respect of lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings, and costs for housing operations management within its assigned duties, and submit a report thereof to the housing authority.

2. The housing authority shall consider this estimate and forward it to:

a) the representative (with regard to Ministries, sectoral regulatory bodies or centrally-governed agencies) for the purpose of integrating it into the general budget estimate of a Ministry or sectoral regulatory body.

b) Department of Finance (with regard to local authorities) for the purpose of verifying and integrating it into a report to the representative for its consideration and approval in accordance with laws on the state budget.

3. The representative shall take on the following duties:

a) Consider and integrate budget estimates prepared by its subordinate entities into a general budget estimate for submission to the Ministry of Finance (with regard to Ministries, sectoral regulatory bodies or centrally-governed agencies).

b) Assign the Department of Finance of centrally-affiliated cities and provinces (with regard to local authorities) to carry out verification of budget estimates as the basis for integrating them into the annual general budget estimate of each locality.

4. Preparation of the estimate of receipts and expenses with respect to lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings, management and operation thereof shall conform to legislative regulations on the state budget.

1. The housing operations authority shall prepare final accounts of receipts and expenses in respect of lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings, and costs for housing operations management within its assigned duties, and submit a report thereof to the housing authority.

2. The housing authority shall consider these final accounts and forward it to:

a) the representative (with regard to Ministries, sectoral regulatory bodies or centrally-governed agencies) for the purpose of integrating it into the final accounts of a Ministry or sectoral regulatory body.

b) Submit them to the Department of Finance of centrally-affiliated cities and provinces (with regard to local authorities) to carry out verification and integration of these final accounts into the general report to the representative.

3. The representative shall take on the following duties:

a) Consider and integrate final accounts prepared by its subordinate entities into the general report for submission to the Ministry of Finance (with regard to Ministries, sectoral regulatory bodies or centrally-governed agencies).

b) Assign the Department of Finance of centrally-affiliated cities and provinces (with regard to local authorities) to carry out verification of these final accounts as the basis for integrating them into the annual final accounts of each locality.

4. Approval of final accounts of receipts and expenses with respect to lease, lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings, management and operation thereof shall conform to legislative regulations on the state budget.  

1. Proceeds from lease of state-owned dwellings shall be used for:

a) paying fees for maintenance of leased state-owned dwellings.

b) paying costs for management of operations of leased state-owned dwellings in accordance with regulations laid down in Article 4 and 5 hereof.

2. Proceeds from lease-purchase and sale of state-owned dwellings shall, after all costs for making arrangements for lease-purchase, sale of dwellings have been deducted, be paid to the State Budget according to the applicable fiscal decentralization in budget as provided for by Point b Clause 1 Article 44 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP.

3. On an annual basis, expenses referred to in Point a Clause 1 and 2 of this Article shall be entered into final accounts while the remaining amounts shall be paid to the state budget according to the fiscal decentralization in budget stipulated by legislative regulations on the state budget.

In cases where commercial houses are rented as public housing as stipulated by Article 25 and Point b Clause 2 Article 51 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP but the rental price is higher than the amount that a tenant may afford to pay, (s)he shall not pay more than 10% of his/her salary received as of the date of renting of such public housing. Procedures for payment of the difference shall be implemented as follows: 

Pursuant to the decision on renting of commercial houses as public housing, issued by competent authorities as provided for by Clause 2 Article 25 of the Decree No. No. 99/2015/ND-CP the host institutions where officers eligible for renting public housing shall notify the housing authority in writing of the rental payable and determination of the difference between the rental incurred from renting of commercial houses as public housing and the rental payable, and the amount subsidized by the state budget to cover such difference in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, in order to prepare and include them in the annual budget estimate of these institutions.  Based on the budget estimate approved by competent authorities, the host institutions of officers renting public housing shall pay this difference on a monthly basis on the date of the State’s salary payment in accordance with laws and regulations, and complete preparation of final accounts of this difference in conjunction with the general financial report of these institutions.

1. Proceeds from lease of public housing shall be deposited in temporary accounts opened at the State Treasury and held by the housing authority before the 30^th day of every month.

2. Proceeds from lease of public housing shall be treated in the manner defined in Article 11 hereof.

1. This Circular shall enter into force from September 19, 2016.

2. Where legislative documents provided as referents in this Circular have been subject any modification, supplementation or replacement, newly-changed documents shall prevail.

1. Entities in the exercise of authority over state-owned dwellings, referred to in Clause 1, 2 and 3 Article 2 hereof; People's Committees of centrally-affiliated cities and provinces; and other entities involved, shall be responsible for implementing this Circular.

2. In the process of implementation, if there is any difficulty, these entities must report to the Ministry of Finance for further study and correction.