The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction has just proposed that the City People's Committee allow a pilot model of short-term rental of apartments. According to the proposal, the pilot program will be applied to apartments in apartment buildings with guaranteed technical systems such as electricity, water, elevators, fire prevention and fighting and waste treatment, built in accordance with the design documents approved by competent authorities. The implementation period of this pilot program is within 12 months from September 1, 2025.
To participate in the pilot, household owners must meet a number of conditions. First, the rental must be approved by the Apartment Conference and approved the content of appropriate adjustment of management and operation fees. The apartment owner needs to register the purpose of use with the local government, management board and building operator.
In addition, the landlord is obliged to declare the tenant's accommodation information, ensuring compliance with regulations on tourism, residence, tax, fire prevention and fighting and insurance. Rental activities must also ensure safety, security, order, environmental sanitation and not affect the rights of other residents. In case the apartment owner violates the above regulations, he will be subject to administrative handling, if he repeats the offense many times, the pilot may be temporarily suspended.
Regarding long-term solutions, after the end of the pilot phase, Ho Chi Minh City will organize an assessment of the effectiveness and impact of the model, as a basis for recommending central ministries and branches to adjust and supplement regulations in the Housing Law, Tourism Law and related documents.
This is truly good news for short-term accommodation service providers in Ho Chi Minh City. Previously, in February 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued Regulations on the management and use of apartment buildings in the city. The city does not allow the use of apartments for tourist accommodation (short-term rental, by day, hour, Airbnb...) in apartment projects. However, this regulation has met with many reactions from investors in accommodation and social housing services and apartment owners.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Business Director of a brokerage specializing in social housing and social housing in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the Department of Construction's proposal has recognized the contributions of the short-term accommodation model to tourism, the city's economy and the role of the economic model from the reality of many countries.
The report of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association also said that banning the Airbnb accommodation model also leads to many economic consequences for Ho Chi Minh City. According to preliminary statistics from this Association, the city has 24 buildings with more than 8,750 apartments operating under the Airbnb model.
The ban on short-term accommodation businesses in apartments has caused heavy damage to apartment owners, losing the source of tourists and visitors who want to rent houses for a short time. switching to long-term rental is difficult when the number of apartments to convert is too large.
At the same time, short-term accommodation business activities are creating jobs for nearly 17,500 workers in the area. If this model is banned from operation, it means that the above number of workers will be unemployed and lose revenue.
