Ownership Of Condominiums

It’s important to note that apartment units cannot be owned freehold separately by individual purchasers as only condominium units have separate land title deeds which would allow the registration of separate ownership at the Land Office.

An apartment building is registered as an ordinary building to the land title separate from the land. As opposed to a condominium it’s not possible to register a mortgage or an independent lease against an apartment unit.

However… provided that the apartment development is legally structured in an adequate and appropriate way, the purchaser can register a 30 year lease against the title of the land related to the apartment with contractual options on renewals of the lease and he may concurrently also hold an interest in the

Thai juristic entity which owns the land. Provided with an appropriate legal structure the purchaser would acquire an indirect minority interest in a company which holds shares of the land owning entity and ensure through a shareholder’s agreement and adequately structured articles of association that the renewals of the lease are protected.

A way for investors to find out whether the multiple unit building they are looking at (if already built) is a condominium or an apartment complex is to ask the developer for copies of the Condominium Registration and the Condominium Juristic Person Registration.

If you’re investing in an off-plan development, said documents may not yet be available and still in the process of approval by the governmental authorities and therefore be issued at a much later stage. In this case you can ask the developer for the construction permit which will reveal if you’re looking at a condominium or an apartment multi unit complex.

Altogether, investors might prefer acquiring a condominium unit more than an apartment unit because a condominium unit offers the possibility of foreign freehold ownership. This may may be sold by developers with a premium at a higher price.

However… acquiring an apartment unit can be a good value alternative for investors provided that the apartment project is legally structured in an adequate and appropriate way.