Gladia Heights: Handover Is Close - What to Inspect and When Your 50-Year Term Starts Counting

Yes — the 50-year clock does not start the day you collect keys: it starts on the date the Pink Book is issued in your name, which is the date Article 20 of the Housing Law 2023 (Law 27/2023/QH15) measures the term from.

On this page

Say you are handed the keys to a two-bedroom in The First. The unit looks finished. The developer's schedule says the next instalment is due on signing the handover minutes, and nobody in the room can tell you whether that signature starts your ownership clock.

When exactly does the 50-year term start counting?

Not at handover, and not at SPA signing. The term runs from the date the Pink Book — the certificate of land-use and home-ownership rights issued to you — is granted. Until that certificate exists, there is nothing for Article 20 to count from.

That gap matters because the two events can be months apart, and the gap is set by administrative process, not by the developer's construction schedule.

What do you inspect before signing the handover minutes?

Bring your own inspector, not the developer's. The handover meeting is your only clean shot at an empty unit, and every item you list in writing that day is far cheaper to fix than one you find after you have moved furniture in.

Test the things that fail quietly, not the things that look wrong. Water is the main one: run every tap and shower for several minutes, watch the ceiling below the bathroom if you can get access, and check the balcony drainage with a bucket of water.

What should you withhold, and which document allows it?

Your leverage is the retention clause in your SPA, not goodwill at the meeting. Keppel Land and Khang Dien will hand you a payment schedule tied to milestones, and the final tranche is normally tied to handover or to the certificate. Read that clause before handover, not during it.

We won't quote a retention percentage here, because the figure sits in your individual SPA and quoting a market average would mislead you. The safe position is simple: a signed snagging list with a fix-by date, and the final instalment released against the re-inspection, is worth more than any verbal promise made in the unit.

The document that prevents the loss

The loss to avoid is not the deposit — it's paying the last instalment against defects you can no longer prove were pre-existing. That is prevented by the dated, signed snagging list attached to the handover minutes. Without it, the defects liability period starts with no baseline.

How long until the Pink Book, and what drags it out?

Decree 95/2024/ND-CP governs the file the developer submits for foreign buyers. What slows it down in practice is rarely the developer — it's a missing or mismatched document on your side, or a building whose quota paperwork is being processed in sequence.

1. Keep your passport and visa or TRC details identical across the SPA, the payment receipts and the tax file.
2. Confirm with the developer's foreign-buyer desk, in writing, when your unit's file goes in.
3. Keep the bank records for every payment — the certificate file needs a clean money trail.
4. Ask for the file reference number, so a delay has a name attached to it.

Does the 30% foreign quota change your term?

No. The quota under Article 19 caps how many units in a building can be foreign-owned; it does not shorten or lengthen anyone's term. What it does affect is resale: your buyer pool for the first 50 years is other foreigners or Vietnamese buyers, and a Vietnamese buyer is the one who converts the unit to long-term (permanent) ownership.

At Gladia Heights that pool sits across The Future, The First and The Advanta, with shophouses on the site, built to BCA Green Mark Gold.

FAQ

Do I own the unit for 50 years from handover?

No. Up to 50 years from the Pink Book date, renewable under Article 20, and permanent once resold to a Vietnamese buyer.

Can I sell before the Pink Book is issued?

You can assign your SPA, but the market for an unregistered unit is thinner and priced accordingly. Most foreign owners wait for the certificate.

Can I rent it out after handover?

Yes, freely, including to a Vietnamese tenant. Renting does not affect the term.

Ask these three in writing before you pay

1. The remaining foreign quota for the specific tower and unit you are being offered, confirmed in writing.
2. The retention and final-instalment clause in your draft SPA, with the snagging procedure attached.
3. The expected Pink Book submission window for your unit, not for the building.

The desk can send the official price list for the current release, the remaining foreign quota per tower, the draft SPA payment and retention schedule, and a handover snagging checklist. Ask over chat and we'll send them across.