Govt to build more than 600,000 residences
Social Development and Human Security Minister Santi Promphat has revived the Baan Ua-Athorn housing project for the low-income market, under which the National Housing Authority (NHA) plans to build at least 400,000 units this year.
The Pheu Thai Party-led government has also launched a separate housing project for people earning more than Bt20,000 to make it easier for them to own their own home. The affordable housing project covers homes costing between Bt800,000 and Bt3 million, while the Baan Ua-Athorn scheme covers units worth not more than Bt600,000.
Under the new housing project, 220,000 units will be constructed. Of these, 150,000 will be condominiums with utilisation space of 24 square metres and the remainder will comprise a variety of housing models including condos with utilisation space of 30 square metres, townhouses and single detached houses. The residential projects are designed to occupy plots along mass-transit transport lines.
The government’s new housing project has caught the attention of people living along canals in Bangkok and in the suburbs who want to move to better areas. The strategy is expected to help the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration implement its water-management plan.
Santi added that the details of both the Baan Ua-Athorn and new housing projects are waiting on the National Economic and Social Development Board. However, the project should start this year.
Baan Ua-Athorn was launched in 2005 as one of the populist policies of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The project, which initially targeted building 600,000 housing units, saw the NHA’s debt rise to Bt100 billion, until the Democrat government under Abhisit Vejjajiva revised the target down to 285,000 units. The agency’s debt now stands at Bt40 billion.
There are currently 50,000 Baan Ua-Athorn units for sale, which the NHA aims to sell in fiscal years 2012 and 2013.
Earlier, NHA governor Vitoon Chaisakul said that if residences for the Baan Ua-Athorn project were developed at a price of Bt600,000 per unit, the NHA would need a subsidiary budget covering an average of Bt80,000-Bt120,000 per unit.
Meanwhile, the NHA has joined with the Government Housing Bank (GHB) to help flood-hit customers by extending their payment periods by six months at zero per cent interest. Customers affected by the floods can contact any GHB branch nationwide.
