Abstract:
The ownership of a condominium is divided into the ownership of private property, the ownership of common property and joint ownership. Regarding the ownership of the common property, it is retained by each co-owner who is required to pay a mutual maintenance fee. In other words, the common property is preserved by a central fund collected from the co-owners. However, in most cases, the collection is found to be insufficient, particularly in medium and low-priced condominiums. Realising that increasing the fee is difficult, a condominium juristic person needs to exploit other sources of income in order to meet the expenditure. In addition, certain entrepreneurs offer the juristic person a solution by tapping into the common property. This research consists of a case study conducted of 60 residential condominium juristic persons of L.P.N. Development PLC located in the Bangkok metropolitan region. The methodology includes examination, survey, observation, note taking and photographing of the current condition of the common property used as a source of income. Furthermore, relevant individuals, both in the executive and operational level, were interviewed. It was discovered that there were 29 ways to generate income such as through coin-operated laundry machines, coin-operated water coolers and renting outs spaces for ATM booths and motorcycle taxis. In addition, 16 common areas were utilized such as car parks, electrical rooms, water cooler rooms, laundry rooms, passageways and entrances. Therefore, it can be concluded that 1) the common areas which generated the highest income, ranked in descending order, were passageways, halls and car parks; 2) the common facilities which earned the highest income, ranked in descending order, were car parks, electrical rooms and water cooler rooms; 3) the location of the condominium helped to supplement the income related to commuting such as space rental for motorcycle taxis and commercial vans. For the condominiums located in central business districts, their sources of income included rental spaces for offices and front entrances for ATM booths; 4) price ranges of the condominiums contributed to different types of income. For B-grade condominiums, their income consisted of rental spaces for vending machines and offices. For C-grade condominiums, their income consisted of rental spaces for clothes drying, storage, retail outlets, coin-operated internet kiosks and motorcycle taxis. It can be seen that the entrepreneurs realised the commercial potential of the common property by exploiting the space in order to increase income and offer the occupants convenience. If the condominium juristic persons are able to maximise the benefit of the common property, it can lead to an increase in income, which in turn can be used to maintain or improve the common property and stabilise the maintenance fee.