NHA lines up cheap houses
Units to be priced from 355,000 baht
The National Housing Authority (NHA) plans to launch single detached houses priced from 355,000 baht a unit, starting with 495 units in Udon Thani’s Ban Chang by the end of this year.
Nattapong Punthakeirtpaisarn, chairman of the board of directors, said each unit will be one storey with a usable area starting from 22 square metres on a plot sized from 20 sq wah.
“We can develop the units at this price as they will be located in our suspended projects, or on land in provinces that have either low or no costs,” he said.
Many of those projects or land plots far from provincial hubs several years ago now have higher potential as urbanisation has caused sprawl to edge closer to them. The construction costs excluding land will be around 8,000-9,000 baht per sq m, said Mr Nattapong.
The NHA will ask the government for a subsidy to help buyers who are low-income earners and talk with state banks including the Government Housing Bank and the Government Savings Bank to offer special interest rates.
There are three other plots in the pipeline where it plans to develop low-priced single-detached houses. They are located in Pho Rai Wan in Phetchaburi, Baan Kluay in Sukhothai and Taphong in Rayong.
Mr Nattapong, who joined the NHA on Oct 1, said the new board aims to clear sunk costs from 92 suspended projects nationwide on plots totalling 4,442 rai, worth 7.7 billion baht.
Two measures to manage the sunk costs include the development of middle- to high-potential land, totalling 86 plots totalling 4,022 rai. Another 420 rai will be offered for sale, he said.
The NHA had total debts of 30.4 billion baht in fiscal 2019, ending September 2019, down from 32 billion a year ago. Debt peaked in 2008 at 78 billion baht, driven by the Baan Eau-Arthorn low-cost housing scheme.
Net profit in fiscal 2019 will be around 2 billion baht, up from 1.8 billion a year ago, and 1.25 billion in fiscal 2017.
The NHA has a housing inventory totalling 14,300 units worth a combined 7.65 billion baht. To clear it, the authority will outsource sales to property agencies.
Some units near government agencies will be offered to retired civil servants with special financial packages, with the NHA talking to two state banks to offer packages.
NHA also aims to introduce 13 housing projects worth a combined 50 billion baht under a public-private partnership. But it will largely depend on the government using a fast track.