Thai Condominium Industry – Builders Want to Contemplate the Law

There is some confusion around the law for foreign obtain in Thailand. Most developers and governing administration officials agree that foreigners can obtain up to 49% of the models in any a single unique condominium creating. Even so, the regulation used to limit international possession at forty%, and this was amplified to 49% on a five yr foundation. This five calendar year time period has now expired and so legally the limit ought to revert back to 40%. Having said that, most men and women are nonetheless working on the forty nine% rule, this means that lots of new condominium models perhaps are getting marketed to foreigners illegally.

For the rest of this posting, let us think that the regulation is basically forty nine% (as is the prevalent perception). I not long ago frequented a quite pleasant, luxurious condominium in the Sukhumvit spot. It is a reduced increase eight tale constructing, which is the maximum peak that the legislation enables for offered the width of the entry road into the premises. Each individual unit in this deluxe new condominium venture has four bedrooms and measures three hundred sq.m. All I can say is that it is a gorgeous building, incredibly classy. Having said that, it also instructions a really significant rate tag, with every single device currently being marketed at more than forty,000,000 Baht.


The developer had this thought of a deluxe condominium, where all proprietors are affluent and wealthy people today. Having said that, the developer has now hit a issue. 高級賃貸なら賃貸百貨 have sold forty nine%, the entire overseas quota, to international consumers, but they have bought only about 10% of the remaining fifty one% to Thai Nationals, some of which ended up associates of the developer. The problem the developer faces now is that they are not able to discover sufficient rich Thai nationals to invest in the remaining models, which means that they are caught with them. As a developer, this represents a incredibly substantial proportion of the revenue of this development.

Thai law prohibits non-Thai nationals from owning land, so condominiums are the noticeable choice for foreign buyers. Having said that, if you are a Thai Countrywide, then you could get a quite huge property for 40,000,000 Baht, so why would you devote that a great deal on a 300 sq.m. condominium unit?

Simply because of this, there are a amount of new condominium structures in Bangkok focusing on the significant conclusion market place, that have sold-out the overseas quota and now are struggling to promote substantial and pricey models to Thais.

There usually are not that several Thais in Bangkok that could or would choose to buy a forty,000,000 + Baht condominium unit. If you did some exploration, you would discover that new condominium projects offering modest studio, one and two bedroom models are selling like hot cakes and most of the buyers are Thai Nationals.

This is a assumed, probably a developer who wished to build a luxury Quality A condominium with only significant and high-priced models should think about setting up another condominium in an adjacent land plot, with small models, and sign up both parts as one condominium (like Tower 1 and Tower two, but branded as two different entities). That way, they could bring in much more Thais to obtain smaller sized models and the luxurious units sell to wealthy international investors. Perhaps they could separate each properties with a wall and have independent access factors way too, just a considered.

Or possibly the Government could reconsider the forty nine% international ownership restrict. The law has in the previous allowed up to a hundred% overseas ownership of units in any a person condominium developing, but this was back again when the economy was crashing and more stimulation in the financial state was needed.

So, why forty nine% now? Perfectly, technically as the operator of a condominium unit, you also individual element of the voting legal rights of the creating and section of the land. So, in theory if there was more than fifty% overseas ownership in a condominium, there would be extra than 50% ownership of the land. So what does this suggest, that the international owners could collaborate together, outvote the Thai proprietors and market the Land? Perfectly no, the Condominium Act 2522 involves unanimous voting of all a hundred% of co-entrepreneurs to demolish a condominium constructing. It also involves seventy five% co-owner approval to promote prevalent place land of the condominium. So the real issue is, should the government rethink this 49% rule, after all it is seriously hurting some builders.