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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
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Developers face
clampdown
source: The Nation Apr 8 2008
Bad roads, leaking pipes lead to complaints as authorities warn they will fine
offenders
Some 5,000 housing estates in Bangkok will be inspected after developers failed
to maintain infrastructure and facilities after the houses were bought.
The authorities will fine the developers Bt1,000 a day until the problems are
solved, Land Department chief Chairerk Dissayaamnaj said yesterday.
Housing estates in Bangkok and some nearby provinces will be inspected after 97
people filed complaints to the department that developers had failed to maintain
commonly used facilities to a proper standard, Chairerk said.
Most complaints featured deteriorating road surfaces, leaking roadside pipes,
poor garbage management, wastewater management systems that were reportedly shut
down intentionally to save electricity costs and overgrown weeds in parks and
playgrounds.
If the complaints are true, the department will demand the estate owners solve
the problems or face Bt1,000 in fines per day, Chairerk said.
Fines will be imposed on the estate owner or the juristic person decided by
residents after the estate owner transferred facilities to their supervision, he
added.
About 5,000 housing estates in Bangkok have been granted a licence since 1972.
The department will first inspect 1,169 projects that have been granted licences
since 1995.
People can file a compliant about housing estate owners to the Land Department
at 02222 6824 and 02222 3271.
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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Amendments to protect
condo buyers in Thailand
The Nation: 7 Apr 2008
Even as Thailand's popularity as a tourist destination has seen steady growth
over recent years, the number of foreigners looking to invest in real estate has
also gone up.
This is evident from the many new condominium projects being developed not only
in and around Bangkok, but also in popular beach-front areas of Hua Hin and
Phuket.
These developments promote high-quality lifestyle and affordable prices, which
Thailand is able to provide. These factors are attractive to foreigners and, in
turn, benefit the local economy.
On February 27, amendments to the Condominium Act (No 4) 2008 were issued to
protect buyers of condominiums and to make the existing Condominium Act more
efficient and up-to-date.
In the amendments to the Condominium Act, the rights of foreigners who are
permitted to own condominium units in Thailand (up to 49 per cent of the
aggregate unit space in a condominium building) are specified.
The amendments are designed to provide protection for the buyers. Developers
must prepare agreements to sell and buy condominiums in a standard format
prescribed by the Interior Ministry.
The amendments also say that the material used to advertise and promote the sale
shall be deemed an integral part of the agreement to sell the condominium. The
developer must keep copies of all advertisement-related material until all units
in the condominium have been sold. This will ensure that the developer delivers
as promised.
In addition to pre-purchase measures, the amendments also provide protection for
buyers who have taken delivery of the unit. These include provisions regulating
how the condominium juristic person operates and manages a condominium building
and how the co-owners control and protect their rights in the units and the
common property.
These amendments will be effective from July 4.
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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CITY CONDOMINIUMS
Developers take regulations hit
source: The Nation April 7, 2008
Transfer of properties held up as builders await construction and EIA licences
Nearly 50 city condominium projects with about 5,000 units, slated to be ready
in the first half of this year, will not be able to transfer the properties to
customers because most are awaiting the environment impact assessment (EIA) and
construction licences.
A Bangkok Metropolitan Administration source said a number of property
developers, who have constructed city condominiums under Article 39 (2) of the
Building Inspector Law, are in trouble because their projects have not got
approval after the EIA law was passed. Some of the projects were not given a
construction licence and have changed their project design.
Under Article 39 (2) of the Building Inspector Law, developers can go ahead with
construction without getting the construction licence and EIA approval. However,
they must get the necessary approvals after the construction is complete and
before handing over the property to the consumer.
According to a report by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administr-ation, 1,058
condominium projects, of a total 1,824 launched last year and in the first two
months of this year, have sought approval. Most of them are waiting for the EIA
licence before commencing construction.
However, the other 766 projects have gone ahead with construction under Article
39 (2). This could spell an added risk for those buying into these 766 projects
in case they do not get the EIA and construction licences.
A source said a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration investigation has revealed
that 50 under-construction projects, slated for completion in the first half of
this year, will be applying for EIA approval and a construction licence and will
have to await these before handing over the properties. That is expected to
affect up to 5,000 buyers.
Prinsiri and Plus Property have already confirmed that their projects are
pending delivery despite being ready because they have had to restrict the
projects due to the EIA and Building Inspector Law issues.
Three of Prinsiri's projects await EIA approval. They include the Pulse
Paholyothin 37, the Complete Narathiwas and Smart Condo@Rama II.
Plus Property's 11 Condo One projects are ready but cannot be transferred
because they do not conform to the clauses under the Building Inspector Law. The
company has had to restrict the projects and refund Bt400 million to its buyers,
which will adversely affect its revenue this year.
Meanwhile, several city condominium projects launched in the first two months of
this year will be applying for the EIA licence.
Major Development president and chief executive Suriyon Poonvoralaks said the
company has applied for an EIA licence for its new luxury condominium project,
Royce Private Residence at Sukhumvit 31. This project is being developed by its
subsidiary MJAI Development, a joint venture with AIG Global Real Estate
Investment.
"If the project does not get an EIA licence, we are ready to refund our
customers. However, we believe that our project will get the EIA licence because
our design follows guidelines laid down by the law," he said.
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
source: Bangkok Post 3 Apr 2008
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is proposing to ban parking lots
in condominiums along the routes of the electric train and Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) systems to encourage the property residents to use mass transit
facilities.
The request will soon be proposed to the Department of Public Works and Town and
Country Planning to consider and enforce, said deputy Bangkok governor Panich
Vikitsreth.
The proposed ban is expected to encourage condo residents in central Bangkok to
make more use of mass transit systems and therefore help reduce traffic along
electric train and BRT routes, said Mr Panich who supervises a project to
relieve traffic congestion in Bangkok.
The ban will also bring down the prices of condo units in central Bangkok as
developers would not have to invest in building parking lots, he said.
BMA will also ask office buildings that still need parking space for visitors to
reduce the size of their parking lots.
Atip Bijanonda, deputy managing director of Stock Exchange of Thailand-listed
developer Supalai Plc said the parking lot ban would benefit the real estate
industry.
Echoing Mr Panich, he said residents of condos without parking lots would be
forced to use existing mass transit system, resulting in lighter traffic in
their neighbourhoods.
Also, developers would have more saleable space which would lead to declines in
costs and in unit prices, he said. However, the extent of the price drops would
depend on the location. Price declines on Sukhumvit would be lower than on
Ratchadapisek.
With the absence of parking lots in condo buildings, developers would get their
environmental impact assessment approvals more easily too, said Mr Atip.
The no-parking lot policy has been applied in other countries as well such as
Japan and Hong Kong, he added.
He suggested the requirement should be extended to cover condo projects
developed in a radius of one kilometre from the stations, not just 500 metres.
Beside the parking lot ban, to be fair in terms of public utilities taxation, Mr
Panich will propose that the BMA collect higher public utility taxes from
residents living in central city areas where public utilities are better
developed, particularly neighbourhoods along the electric train and BRT routes
where business profitability is higher than in suburban areas.
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
source: The Nation April 4, 2008
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will flesh out and introduce a special
board for listing property funds in the second half, says ING Funds managing
director Maris Tarab.
"With 18 property funds worth more than Bt60 billion in the market, it's about
time a new trading category was created for property funds," he said, referring
to a stand-alone section like the one for warrants.
Something like it has already surfaced once. On the very first day the SET
launched its new website earlier this year, investors may have noticed a new
section devoted to property funds. According to tradition, it should have been
included in the main board's real-estate and property-development sector. The
new classification quickly disappeared.
Maris said the new set-up would help the flow of information for investors and
ease the approval process for property funds as far as it applied to operations.
"In Singapore [where real-estate investment trusts are traded on the Singapore
Exchange as securities along with warrants and derivatives], they are already
having fun trading," Maris said. ING Funds will soon be managing Thailand's
largest property fund. The Bt30-billion Bangkok Skytrain Extension Fund, which
has recently been finalised, is now looking for financial advisers.
Agreement has also been reached between the Nerula family, who owns the Sheraton
Grande Sukhumvit, and ING Funds to put the hotel into a property fund. If it is
added to the Quality Hospitality Leasehold Property Fund, the fund's value will
increase to Bt7 billion.
Maris said property funds, including both freehold and leasehold property funds,
had an average return of 9 per cent last year.
Liquidity and trading volume will improve in accordance with the size of the
funds. At present, it is not at all difficult for a retail investor to sell
Bt100,000 worth of property-fund units, he said.
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
source: Bkk Post Apr 2 2008
The Consumer Protection Board has warned developers of housing projects that
they will face a jail term and a fine if they are found to have exaggerated
their projects in advertisements.
Nirot Charoenprakob, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Protection Board,
said he recently called a meeting with developers of housing projects to warn
them not to exaggerate their projects following complaints from many consumers
that some developers had misled them into believing that mass transit projects
would pass their housing estates or shopping malls, hospitals or schools would
be built near their estates.
Such exaggerated advertisements have fooled many into buying expensive housing
or condominium units from these projects.
In many cases, it was found later that the public facilities being advertised
were being built several kilometres away from the housing projects.
Mr Nirot said the board allows developers to advertise their products, but that
is not enough if they don't explain in detail the distances between their
project and the mass transit system being built. Consumers should carefully
check all the information before purchasing any housing units, he said.
Developers of housing projects found exaggerating their advertisements are
liable to a jail term of 6 months and/or a maximum fine of 50,000 baht.
Theerawat Chantharasomboon, a legal expert on the board, also warned consumers
to be extra careful when receiving Sim cards for mobile phones given to them for
free as they might find themselves facing debt collection bills later.
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