Village and residential group arrangement will be associated with historical and cultural characteristics, population size

The review and arrangement of villages, hamlets, and residential groups will be implemented nationwide in 2026.

Implementing Resolution 18-NQ/TW and current legal regulations, the arrangement of villages and residential groups in the past time has achieved important results, reducing from nearly 137,000 units in 2015 to more than 89,500 units in 2025.

In 2025, due to the implementation of the policy of arranging provincial-level administrative units, abolishing district-level units, and rearranging commune-level administrative units to expand the development space of localities, the current commune level has a large increase in the scale of area, population, as well as the number of villages and residential groups directly under the commune level, increasing the number of focal points and creating great management pressure on the commune-level government.

At the voter meeting on April 28 in Dien Bien province, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that, implementing the Conclusions of the Central Government, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Home Affairs to study and develop a plan for arranging villages and residential groups and the arrangement, use, and policy regimes for non-specialized personnel at the commune level, in villages and residential groups, report and seek opinions from the Politburo, as a basis for building and promulgating the Government's Decree on villages and residential groups.

In which, the arrangement of villages and residential groups must ensure compliance with the 2-level local government model; comply with criteria and standards according to regulations; and at the same time be associated with historical and cultural characteristics, natural conditions, population size and population distribution of each area.

This is considered the final step to synchronize the organizational system after the process of arranging administrative units at all levels in the past period. When the two-level local government model is promoted, the role of the commune level increases significantly, leading to the requirement to reorganize units below the commune to suit the new management scale.

Although not yet starting widespread mergers, many localities have proactively reviewed and developed plans, waiting for a new legal framework to be implemented simultaneously. The common point is that the main movement takes place in the review, statistics and planning stage.

In Khanh Hoa province, this locality issued document No. 1277/QD-UBND on supplementing and updating the 2026 Administrative Reform Plan, which assigns tasks to continue reviewing and arranging public service units; arranging non-specialized personnel; reviewing villages and residential groups; and implementing staff streamlining policies.

The key task is to review villages and residential groups in Khanh Hoa province (after competent authorities issue Circulars and guiding documents); review and implement according to the policy of competent authorities on resolving and arranging non-specialized personnel at the commune level, in villages and residential groups.

In Hanoi City, the administrative reform plan for 2026 sets a goal to arrange villages and residential groups according to central direction.

In Quang Ngai province, this locality has been and is reviewing and consolidating the organizational structure, and at the same time requesting urgent arrangement of villages and residential groups associated with improving the quality of non-specialized staff.

In Ninh Binh province, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 257/QD-UBND assigning the Department of Home Affairs to develop a plan for arrangement and merger in April 2026.

In Nghe An province, this locality has issued Directive 07-CT/TU, requiring proactively building a merger plan, preparing personnel and creating social consensus.

In Lang Son province, the Provincial People's Committee has issued Plan 29/KH-UBND to implement the arrangement of villages and residential groups according to the roadmap.

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