The Borey Buyers’ Guide

The borey life is the dream of countless families across Cambodia. However, not all boreys are equal. Here is a checklist from Realestate.com.kh to make sure you are in fact securing the right property for you and your family - and a sound investment.

What is a borey?

Essentially, a borey is a gated community of flat houses, twin villa houses and single villa houses, including public areas, gardens and full security services. Those who want to buy a borey home are looking for privacy, a safe place for their family to grow, areas where communities can develop, and a place where all modern amenities are assured. They are they prefered first home of newlywed Cambodian couples looking to start a new family. Not Cambodian? Not sure if you can buy a borey? Learn about foreign ownership laws here. Learn more about Phnom Penh Residential Space here.

Is it a registered borey you’re buying?

Before purchasing any “borey” home, or any gated community home which calls itself a “borey,” you must first ensure it is infact registered as a borey and has all the correct licenses. Ask your real estate agent, or the property owner, to provide all certification before considering purchasing the property.

Here is what you need to see:

1. Correct Hard Title:  The borey development owner must first have hard title for the entire project property, and it must be divided into individual hard titles for each housing unit within the borey. Learn more about Cambodian land titles here.
2. Registered Development Company: The owner/developer must be a registered Cambodian company.
3. Master Plan Approval: Before any construction begins on a borey development, the Ministry of Land Management must first approve the developer's Master Plan.
4. Construction License: Having approved the master plan, the construction company is scrutinized. In order for a gated community development to call itself a “Borey,” it must be built by a single, registered construction company, with a license to construct from the Ministry of Land Management. This ensures the buildings are built to an adequate standard, and necessary amenities and infrastructure are guaranteed.
5. Borey License: If everything is in order, the Ministry of Economics and Finance issues a borey license - which means that the Government is satisfied with the quality of the development’s design and sales plans, and the correct land titles for that housing project are in order. Each property within the development will have an independent hard title, meaning the future home owner has full ownership rights on purchase. This means the development can legally be called a “borey”.

Buying a registered borey home means due diligence has been done for you by the Government - at a national level - and you can guarantee that the correct construction and legal processes have been followed.

In comparison, Cambodia hosts many large developments of flat houses which look exactly the same as a borey community in their design, and sometimes even called a borey in their marketing. However, those developments have not been scrutinized or licensed. Developers avoid registering as a borey because of the additional expense and scrutiny over their construction and legal standards. To build and sell a flathouse development, not titled as a borey, means less licensing is required, and official permission for construction and selling is only needed at a Khan or Sangkat level. Your title may not be valid, and the quality of the house’s construction and its Sales and Purchase Agreement is not certain. Avoid unregistered flathouse developments, or risk investing in a insecure asset that may not match pre-sale descriptions.

Check out Cambodia’s latest and greatest borey homes for sale and rent on realestate.com.kh today!