HCMC solicits opinions on the operation of short-term rental apartments
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is seeking opinions on the short-term accommodation model in apartment buildings. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has assigned the Department of Construction to preside over and coordinate with units such as the Department of Tourism, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association and relevant agencies to monitor and handle issues arising from this model.
According to the Housing Law 2023, the act of converting functions, using apartments for the wrong purpose, changing the load-bearing structure, or dividing apartments without permission from the competent authority is a violation. Circular 05/2024/TT-BXD also stipulates that apartment buildings must be used for the right design purpose.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requested the Department of Construction to coordinate with relevant agencies to assess the actual situation of managing the short-term accommodation model. The goal is to ensure security for current residents and research and develop the economy and tourism for the city.
Many conflicting views
Since March 2024, Ho Chi Minh City has banned the exploitation of apartments for tourist accommodation (short-term lease, by day, hour, Airbnb...) in apartment projects. This decision has caused difficulties for many investors and apartment owners.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong - Director of a short-term accommodation service provider company in Ho Chi Minh City - said that rental services through international platforms such as Airbnb have been operating in the city for nearly 10 years and contribute to promoting tourism, creating diversity in accommodation choices, especially for group or family tourists. Mr. Cuong proposed that there should be a pilot mechanism to recognize this model as a legal business line, with full business registration, tax payment and legal management, with areas that clearly allow operations and sanctions for violations.
Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association - said that it is necessary to recognize the Airbnb model as a legal business industry and build a suitable management mechanism. The city can require tenants to register for business, pay taxes and management fees to cover arising costs, and manage the number of tenants, rental time, use of common facilities and requirements for compliance with apartment regulations. Mr. Chau affirmed that if well managed, this model will promote tourism, create budget revenue and bring benefits to both apartment owners and tourists, while protecting the rights of residents.
Meanwhile, many experts have the view that this is an opportunity to professionalize accommodation activities.
According to Savills' hotel consulting experts, the Airbnb business model in apartments helps expand options for consumers. However, it also creates many complicated problems in security, services and creates competition for legal tourism accommodation industries such as hotels and serviced apartments. Banning the Airbnb model in apartments can bring many benefits to the above tourist accommodation channels.
A representative of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) said that the 2023 Housing Law clearly stipulates that apartments are used for residential purposes and cannot be used for other purposes. The rental of short-term apartments by day and by hour should be legally understood as a short-term accommodation business activity.
Once it has been determined that business must be associated with professional management services, fire prevention and fighting standards... As for the type of housing that was developed without this function, when rented for accommodation, it is easy to lead to overload of services, utilities, security and order not being guaranteed...
Apartment management boards often lack skills and expertise in managing like hotels, which makes it difficult to control visitors entering and leaving. In addition, not exploiting tourism well can lead to problems with safety and quality of accommodation services. Therefore, experts from VARS believe that it is reasonable to ban leasing apartments for short stays.
