Sena aims to maintain its leadership in the affordable housing segment, preserving its market share and aggressively pursuing new strategies for 2026. Capitalizing on the booming "rent-and-lease-purchase" trend driven by economic volatility and stricter bank lending standards, Sena is launching two solutions: LivNex (rent-to-own) and RentNex (direct rental) as new options.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ketsara Thanyalakpak, Managing Director of Sena Development Public Company Limited (SENA), revealed that, The consumer trend for 2025 is shifting from homeownership to a focus on financial flexibility and risk management. Amidst economic volatility and stricter lending criteria, many are turning to renting instead of buying as a long-term financial solution. This trend is a major driving force behind the need to expand housing options beyond traditional sales. Sena has developed LivNex (rent-to-own) and RentNex (direct rental) to open up new markets and meet the needs of consumers seeking high flexibility.

Both solutions have received consistently positive feedback over the past two years. Amidst a market with weak purchasing power, high loan rejection rates, and income disproportionate to housing prices, Sena believes that 2026 will see the real estate market enter a full-blown “golden age of renting and hire-purchase.” LivNex and RentNex solutions will be key strategic elements in the company’s aggressive strategy to secure its position as a market leader in truly meeting the needs of modern consumers.

Sena emphasizes its strength in establishing itself as a leader in the Affordable Segment. Currently, the company holds approximately 20% market share in this segment: understanding the real lives and costs of people earning less than 30,000 baht per month, which is the largest group, representing 54% of households in Bangkok and its surrounding areas. The company currently has over 13,000 affordable houses and condominiums in stock.

“The market for houses under 3 million baht remains the core of Bangkok’s market, accounting for over 70% of the entire market, and it’s highly competitive. Even developers employing price-cutting strategies, reducing prices by up to 10%, haven’t been able to stimulate sales.” "Because the main obstacle today is not just 'price,' but 'failure to obtain loans' for buyers. Even with weakened purchasing power, housing remains an unavoidable basic necessity. Therefore, Sena chooses to develop based on its strengths, focusing on market segments it's familiar with and understands the customers truly. The survival and challenge for the real estate market today isn't just about competing on price, but about understanding the real lives of buyers, including monthly expenses, commuting, and credit limitations," said Dr. Ketsara.

Regarding the LivNex "Rent-to-Own Home" solution, which has become the flagship for addressing the market's biggest pain point: "failure to obtain loans," since the project's inception, over 2,000 units have been interested in participating. The results have been very positive, showing that 102 customers who previously failed to obtain loans have now successfully owned homes, with another 790 currently preparing their credit. This group represents a future backlog for the company worth over 2.3 billion baht and can generate annual cash flow of approximately 80-100 million baht, which will be a recurring income with continuous growth potential.

Although many real estate companies have turned to rental-saving programs for almost every project, LivNex's unique selling point is that "Sena doesn't just sell units, but the opportunity to actually own a home" through a comprehensive rental-saving system with a low interest rate of 1.8%. It also includes a team of consultants who provide credit advice every six months until customers can obtain a bank loan, as well as collaboration with the Government Housing Bank (GHB) for rent and savings payments through the GHB's "Financial School" program. This allows the bank to see the customer's history and repayment potential, helping to build credit and loan readiness for participants. Most recently, the Government Savings Bank has also provided specific loan funding for LivNex, reflecting confidence in the potential of this model. Meanwhile, RentNex, "Direct Rent with Sena," is another solution for renting out condominiums, catering to young people who don't want to be tied down to long-term debt.

RentNex has experienced continuous growth throughout the year, with 520 units already rented and an average rental yield of 70-80 units per month, even though it hasn't yet launched full-scale marketing. The Bangna, Rama 9, and Rangsit areas are the locations that generate the highest rental returns. With a yield of approximately 7% and an average margin of 15-20%, overall rental demand is high, mostly located near BTS Skytrain lines, workplaces, and university areas. This reflects the behavior of the younger generation who prioritize renting for quality of life over immediate home purchase. Sena's rental prices are comparable to those in similar locations, but the key advantage of RentNex is that if tenants wish to purchase a home in the future, they can convert their lease into a hire-purchase system, and the rental payments will contribute to the principal, reducing the initial down payment.

Sena expects to expand its rental and hire-purchase portfolio by another 2,000-3,000 units next year, totaling 30 projects. This will make the model a highly stable recurring revenue stream with a gross profit margin exceeding 15%, higher than typical home sales. Given Bangkok's high rental rates relative to income, the rental and hire-purchase segment is expected to continue growing and will be a key strategy for Sena in 2026.

Simultaneously, Sena will accelerate the renovation of over 5,000 ready-to-move-in units, valued at 10 billion baht, to enhance their value through redesign, functionality, and modern styling to meet current consumer behavior. The price war has increased the cost of acquiring customers. Therefore, an Economy of Scope strategy must be used, which means utilizing existing stock to its maximum efficiency instead of accelerating new production using economies of scale. The major challenge is.

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