Thailand moots amending leasehold limits for foreign property buyers

[BANGKOK] Thailand has proposed amending legislation on leasehold and ownership limits for foreigners who buy condominiums, in an effort to stimulate the country’s flagging property market.

The amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code, if passed, will see the limit on leasehold periods for foreigners extended from the existing 30-year maximum (with another 30-year extension negotiable) to 99 years. The limit on foreign holdings in condominium projects will be raised to 75 per cent, from the current 49 per cent.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who was the former chief executive of Sansiri – one of the largest residential property developers in Thailand – before he entered politics last year, faces an uphill political battle in trying to push through the amendments.