If the house ownership is transferred separately from the land ownership, 30-days public notice is required before the transfer of house ownership can be registered. During this notice period, objections against the house ownership transfer can be filed. If land and house are sold jointly, no public notice is required.
As opposed to land, there are no title deeds for buildings and therefore evidence of ownership is not as clearly documented. Generally speaking, there is an assumption that the land owner is also the owner of a house that is situated on such land. Such assumption may, however, be disproved in particular by (1) a superficies, (2) building permit and/or (3) an official house sale and purchase agreement. In this article, we will look further into the various options and also into the significance of the construction agreement and the so-called house registration book.
1. Superficies
The Thai CCC sets forth a clear procedure of separating land and house ownership through registering a “superficies” (Sect. 1410-1416 CCC), which creates the right to own a house on a land plot that one does not own. The superficies is registered on the title deed, which evidences the ownership of the respective house and provides notice to third parties.
2. Building permit
According to the rulings of some Thai courts and administrative practice, house ownership can also be established merely pursuant to Section 146 sentence 2 CCC which distinguishes and separates the land from a house built thereon where the house is built“ in the exercise of a right over [the land owner’s] land” and without a superficies. Thai courts consider leasehold to be a “right to another person’s land” and current administrative practice in Thailand takes the same position.
However, current administrative practice may also require additional documentation that it deems to be evidence of house ownership. For the first owner of a house, i.e. the builder, this is the building permit for the house. Administrative practice considers the permit relevant indicia of house ownership (for the first owner of the house only) purportedly because the land owner must consent in writing to the issuance of the permit and because the permit form calls the grantee the “owner” of the house to be built.
3. Official House Sale Agreement
In the case where the building is purchased from a property developer, usually together with an interest in the land, the developer will have applied for the building permit. Then, the documentation of the house purchase will be relevant, in particular the official “House Sale Agreement”. The official agreements are issued by and are part of the file of the land office. And, thereby, ownership of the house in the name of the owner from the second owner on is officially registered at the relevant land office. A duplicate of the latest agreement is given to a new owner of the house.
It should be noted that, as opposed to the building permit, the official house sale and purchase agreement serves as strong evidence for house ownership that is not easy to challenge.
4. Construction Agreement
In combination with the aforementioned documentation, a construction agreement related to the house may also be brought forward as indicia for house ownership.
5. House Registration Book
Despite a common misconception, the house registration book (in Thai “Tabien Baan” or “Blue Book”) does not serve as evidence for house ownership in any way. The house registration book states the address of the house and the persons who live in it. This will often be the owner, but it does not necessarily have to be the case.
The house registration book is however an important document for dealings related to utilities, etc. and it generally serves as certificate of residence.
There are two types of House Registration books, the blue and the yellow book. The blue book is issued for Thai nationals or foreigners with permanent residence status, the yellow book for foreign nationals. In both cases please note that only individuals, not companies, can be stated.
As a summary, we would like to point out that a review of the house ownership situation should be an important part of every legal due diligence prior to acquisition of property in Thailand. There are means to clearly document the house ownership in the name of the purchaser, and these should not be missed.
6 September 2011
