Govt's senior housing up to 15 times overbooked, triggering lottery

Most units at the government's first Senior Housing Complex are overbooked less than a month after it opened for reservations, said the Treasury Department on Friday.

The housing project for the elderly in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district is a collaboration between the Treasury Department and Ramathibodi Hospital, which is building an Elderly Care and Hospice Complex on the plot.

Units priced Bt1.82 million are overbooked by 150 per cent, Bt2.10 million units by 200 per cent, Bt2.80 million units by 300 per cent, and Bt2.99 million units by a whopping 1,500 per cent (15 times overbooked). 

However, units priced at Bt1.99 million are still available for reservation. 

A lottery will now be conducted to decide who gets to move into the complex.    

"The department will end the reservation period today [December 4] to check the eligibility of people who have booked units," said Yuttana Yimgarund, director-general of the Treasury Department. "The department will then place their names into a lottery."

Sixty per cent of reserved units will be paid for in cash, 40 per cent via loans.

"The project is expected to start construction in April next year and open at the end of 2022," Yuttana said. 

Talks on another 50-rai senior complex nearby will be conducted by Ramathibodi Hospital and the Government Housing Bank on December 8, he said.

The senior complexes are part of the government’s policy to address Thailand’s rapidly ageing society.

Separately, Yuttana said 141 rai of state land in Phuket will be used to build a comprehensive health centre to promote the holiday destination as a world-class medical tourism city.