“In April the draft regulations were issued for public comment and it is expected the new set of rules will come into effect over the next year, pending review,” he write in a release issued yesterday (May 8). (See report here.)
The biggest change in the regulations will be implementation of a FAR allocation (floor area ratio) to land size that is typically used in urban locations to manage density, Mr Barnett noted.
“Nervous developers are looking at how size of public roadways in the new rules will likely reduce development GFA on plots in many areas and a knock-on effect is land values that will potentially shift down if cases where building footprints are lowered,” he said.
“As Phuket is moving towards an urbanising trend the application of these new regulations is needed to control the current situation.
“Expect a rapid escalation of permit applications by developers looking to get in front of the changes over the next few months, though its not year clear when the final rules will come into effect,” he added.