Major industries/ Services : Government Real Estate Policy

Overview

The government has implemented a number of policies and measures to manage and sustain the real estate sector, including, for example, tax measures, financial policies implemented through interest rates, and lending policies of state run financial institutions. Measures are taken as appropriate to conditions at any given time to stimulate property transactions; to reduce the burdens of owing a home, one of the necessities of survival; and to promote sustainable growth in the real estate sector, which will, in turn, prevent future problems. These measures and policies include, for example:

- Housing policies for those with low to moderate incomes: these include, for example, Board of Investment (BOI) housing projects. In order to encourage the private sector develop more properties for those of low to moderate income, the government has implemented measures to motivate developers with tax privileges granted to developers that request support from BOI.

- Measures to stimulate the real estate market: In general, the government implements measures to stimulate the real estate market when it experiences contraction. Most of these measures temporary, for example, limited to one year. These measures aim to ease the burden of mortgage payments and to assist the growth of the real estate business. Measures include, for example, tax reductions and reducing fees for registering transfers of ownership transfer and for registering mortgages.
- Legislation: The amendment of the Condominium Act is one example. The act was amended to increase the ratio of non-Thai nationals permitted to occupy condominiums from 40 to 49 percent of the floor-space of any given project.