The American Chamber of Commerce attracted a full house of more than 120 property and real estate industry professionals at Angsana Laguna Phuket recently when the subject of real estate on Phuket was discussed,
The event focused on bringing order and ethical behaviour to Thailand’s real estate agencies and building trust in the industry.
Two routes to more professional performance by agencies were proposed. Nina Serebryakova, partner in Sereb (Phuket) Co, and MBS & Consulting, made an impassioned plea for self-regulation, along the lines of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the US, of which she is a member.
Thailand, she pointed out, has seen huge growth in property, “so we need professional standards”.
The NAR, she pointed out, has an excellent Code of Ethics, on which something similar to the NAR could be established in Thailand.
Indeed, she said, moves are already being made to establish standards in the property industry, with the Thai Professional Standards Institute preparing standards initially for the property services industry, with the aim of following up with standards for developers and agencies, which would lead eventually to a licensing system.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor for PropertyGuru Group, looked at the involuntary route – government regulation – and explained how this works in Singapore. “Agencies should be professional and trusted,” he said. “I think we have that in Singapore.”
To a joint frisson of horror among the agents in the room, he noted, “People have been sent to jail for breaking the Act,” before adding that Thailand would benefit from a similar law.
Dexter Norville, Head of Estate Management with Jones Lang LaSalle, noted that buyers do have protection from the Consumer Protection Act and that there are good lawyers in the country.
However, he said, he thought that Thailand’s property industry would benefit from regulation. But he did not think it would happen any time soon. “The government has other things to worry about…”
Another speaker at the afternoon seminar was Stuart Reading, Director of Laguna Resorts & Hotels, who reviewed the property side of the company in Phuket, noting, “We have a significant undeveloped land bank. The future is exciting, much more vibrant, with Laguna turning into a real community.”
Olaf Duensing, partner in the law firm Duensing Kippen, laid out the details of a new way his company has devised of renewing land leases to secure the classic 30-30-30-year format, involving a lease-mortgage structure to keep the land owner honest and avoid excessive taxation.
Basically, it involves tying the landowner into an agreement to repay a “loan” with hefty interest if he or she fails to renew the lease.
The structure, he said, was meeting some resistance “because it’s new”, but it did not involve setting up offshore companies and getting involved in complex taxation problems.
Despite the resistance, it had already been applied to agreements in Phuket and Pattaya. The details are complex, he added, “so don’t try this at home”.
Pictured left to right: Judy Benn, Dexter Norville, Stuart Reading, Olaf Duensing, Natasha Eldred, Nina Serebryakova, Andrew Batt and Jerrold Kippen.
This story was first published by The Phuket News and is reproduced as part of an editorial partnership between PropertyGuru Group and The Phuket News.
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