Buying an off-plan townhouse: which legal documents to check before signing?

Basis: Law on Real Estate Business No. 29/2023/QH15 (effective 1 August 2024) — Articles 6, 24, 25, 26; Decree 96/2024/NĐ-CP guiding the Law on Real Estate Business; Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15, Article 152 · Example: Salacia Villas documents per the developer's sample sale and purchase agreement and materials (the Salacia Villas page, updated 30 October 2026) · Updated 8 November 2026.

This article uses Salacia Villas (a townhouse and villa development in Tan Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City — former Phu My, Ba Ria – Vung Tau) as an example so you can check any townhouse project yourself. Document numbers and dates in the article come from the developer's sample sale and purchase agreement; HPR does not yet have copies of each document to publish.

1. What off-plan housing is, and who you sign with

Off-plan housing is housing under construction or not yet accepted for use. You buy the home based on drawings and a contract, and receive the actual house later. So the documents are the only thing you can check at signing.

• The seller is the project developer — the legal entity named on the investment policy and the land use right certificate. The commercial name or development brand may differ from the legal entity's name.
• Example — Salacia Villas: the legal name is the Vu Viet Residential Area project; you sign the sale and purchase agreement directly with Vu Viet One Member Co., Ltd. VinaLiving is the project development company. The sale price includes land use fees.
• Check the company name, enterprise code and signatory on the contract against the names on the documents in section 2. If the signatory is not the legal representative, ask to see the power of attorney.

2. Five documents to review

#	Document	What to look at	Salacia Villas example
1	Investment policy (and any adjustments)	Project name, developer name, scale, purpose of building housing for sale	Document 5081/UBND-VP dated 29/05/2019 of the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Provincial People's Committee; 1st adjustment of the investment policy and investor approval: Decision 111/QĐ-UBND dated 20/01/2025
2	Land use right certificate	Land type, term, in whose name, issued for the whole project or for each plot	Urban residential land, freehold; certificates issued for each individual plot on 09/04/2024
3	Notice that off-plan housing is eligible for sale	Number of units allowed for sale, list of plots / rows — the unit you choose must be on the list	Notice 5402/SXD-QLN dated 25/10/2023 of the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Department of Construction, 333 units
4	Sample sale and purchase agreement	Payment schedule, maintenance fee, guarantee, handover date, late penalties, certificate issuance (section 3)	Contains a clause in which the buyer waives the developer's obligation to provide a guarantee letter — see section 3
5	Actual progress	Dated site photos, compared with the dates in the contract (section 4)	Drone photos 04/09/2026; shopping centre expected to open in Q1 2028

Document no. 3 is the condition for the developer to sign contracts selling homes under construction (Article 24). Documents issued before 1 August 2024, like the Salacia Villas notice, were made under the old law (Law on Real Estate Business 2014) — they are still the type of document you need to see. Project information must also be published on the developer's website and the housing and real estate market information system (Article 6); compare the copies with the published information. How to read each document: checking a project's legal status — 5 groups of documents, what 1/500 planning is.

What an individual land certificate per plot means: the land of each unit already has its own certificate in the developer's name. When you have paid in full and taken possession, the developer transfers the land title and records the house on the certificate for you. Also ask whether the plot of your chosen unit is mortgaged to a bank and, if so, whether the bank has agreed to its sale.

3. Reading the sample contract: payment schedule, maintenance fee, guarantee

Ask for the sample contract before the signing day so you can read it carefully at home. Three groups of clauses to read first:

Payment schedule. The law limits how much the developer may collect before handing over the home (Article 25):

Milestone	Legal maximum
First payment	30% of the contract value
Before handover	70% (where the seller is a foreign-invested enterprise: 50%)
Before you receive the certificate	95% — the remaining 5% is paid when you receive the certificate

Add up the instalments before handover in your schedule and compare with the table above. Example — the Accumulation option at Salacia Villas (August–September 2026 policy, now past the validity date stated in the document): 10% on signing, 3 instalments of 5% to 06/2028, 70% at handover in 12/2028, 5% on receipt of the pink book — 25% paid before handover. Each option and each launch round has its own schedule; the exact schedule follows each unit's calculation sheet (Salacia Villas policy).

Maintenance fee. The 2% maintenance fund is a rule for apartment buildings (Law on Housing 2023, Article 152). For townhouses and villas in a residential area, maintenance of shared parts is agreed in the contract — read the amount, when it is paid, who manages the fund and which items it covers. Example — Salacia Villas: the sale price excludes the maintenance fee, which is collected at handover; the unit price list of 08/2026 states 100 million VND/unit, while the developer's FAQ states 2% of the pre-tax price. When two documents differ, ask the developer which figure will be written into your contract.

Bank guarantee. Under Article 26, a developer selling homes under construction must have a bank's approval to guarantee them: if the home is not handed over as committed, the bank refunds the money you have paid in advance. Buyers may choose whether or not to take the guarantee, and declining it must be recorded in writing. The Salacia Villas sample sale and purchase agreement states that the buyer agrees to waive the developer's obligation to provide a bank guarantee letter. This clause needs careful reading before you sign:

• Where the clause is in the contract, and whether there is a separate document for you to sign to confirm it.
• If you want a guarantee letter, whether that is possible, and the procedure, fee and time to receive it.
• What the contract says about your rights if the developer is late with handover: the penalty, when you may terminate unilaterally, and the refund deadline.

How to read a guarantee letter and when it applies: bank guarantees for off-plan homes.

Other clauses to read: handover date (Salacia Villas: 12/2027, 12/2028 or 12/2030 depending on the option), late-handover penalty, handover standard (shell or finished, materials "or equivalent"), how area differences are calculated, the deadline for the developer to file for the certificate, and conditions for transferring the contract.

4. Checking progress through site photos

Site photos tell you where the build stands compared with the contract dates. How to read them:

1. Photos must show the date taken and a clear location (row, plot). Undated photos are just illustrations.
2. Compare each item with the progress milestones: internal infrastructure (roads, power, water, drainage), shared amenities, the row you chose, and major buildings in the project.
3. Compare two photos from the same angle a few months apart to see whether the site has changed.
4. Visit the site to see the row you chose in person, and ask for acceptance records for completed items.

Example — Salacia Villas, drone photos of 4 September 2026: internal infrastructure, greenery, the residents' club and the pool are in place; the frontage rows are in the shell stage; piling is under way on the shopping centre plot. Compared with the developer's announced milestones: the shopping centre broke ground in 04/2026, was about 20% complete by 08/2026 and is expected to open in Q1 2028; the Trade Port row's shell was about 70% complete in 08/2026. The "shell completed 08/2026" milestone has passed — HPR is awaiting the developer's confirmation, so ask for the latest photos before deciding (Salacia Villas progress).

The word "expected" in dates for amenities and commercial buildings is not a handover commitment. The binding date is the one in your contract.

5. Questions to send a consultant

1. Which legal entity is the seller? Is the contract signatory authorised to sign?
2. Show me copies of the investment policy and the adjustment decisions.
3. Does the plot of my chosen unit have its own certificate yet, and is it mortgaged to a bank?
4. Is my chosen unit on the list in the notice of eligibility for sale? Show me the page with the unit's name.
5. Send the sample sale and purchase agreement currently in use — does it differ from the version signed with earlier buyers?
6. What is the payment schedule for my chosen unit, and what percentage is paid up to handover?
7. What maintenance fee is stated in the contract, when is it collected and what is it used for?
8. What does the guarantee clause in the contract say? How do I get a guarantee letter if I want one?
9. The handover date in the contract, the late-handover penalty and the deadline for filing for the certificate?
10. Send the latest dated site photos of the row I chose.

Answers should come with documents, not just verbal assurances.

See copies of the Salacia Villas documents

Message HPR on 07 88 04 04 88 to receive copies of the legal documents, the sample sale and purchase agreement and the latest progress photos for Salacia Villas. See also projects in former Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

This article is for reference and does not replace legal advice for your specific case.

Sources in Vietnamese; titles kept in the original, with a short English translation in brackets.

• Luật Kinh doanh bất động sản số 29/2023/QH15 (Law on Real Estate Business No. 29/2023/QH15) of 28 November 2023 (effective 1 August 2024) — Article 6 (disclosure of information), Article 24 (conditions for off-plan housing), Article 25 (payment), Article 26 (guarantee); full text on caselaw.vn, accessed 8 November 2026.
• Luật Nhà ở số 27/2023/QH15 (Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15) of 27 November 2023 — Article 152 (apartment building maintenance fund), accessed 8 November 2026.
• Tạp chí Luật sư Việt Nam — Thủ tục thông báo nhà ở hình thành trong tương lai đủ điều kiện được bán, cho thuê mua (Procedure for notifying that off-plan housing is eligible for sale or lease-purchase) (Decree 96/2024/NĐ-CP).
• Salacia Villas documents (developer materials sent to agents): sample sale and purchase agreement 04/2026 — numbers and dates of documents 5081/UBND-VP, 111/QĐ-UBND, 5402/SXD-QLN, certificate of 09/04/2024, guarantee waiver clause; sales policy August–September 2026; unit price list 27/08/2026; developer FAQ; progress materials and drone photos of 04/09/2026 — summarised in the Legal section and Progress section of the HPR project page, updated 30 October 2026.