On February 27, HCM City People’s Committee issued Decision 26 on apartment management and use which said apartment rentals must be for residential purposes only, with short-term (daily or hourly) rentals strictly prohibited.

This regulation was supported by many apartment residents but faced opposing views from owners operating rental businesses.

The MOC’s Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency sent a document regarding Housing Law regulations to the Agency for Document Review and Administrative Violation Management under the Ministry of Justice.

Regarding short-term rental activities in apartments under the Airbnb model, the agency noted that MOC has responded to citizens and the HCM City National Assembly Delegation. 

The Ministry stated that for house rentals (including via Airbnb), the rented property must meet Housing Law 2023 conditions, with parties signing a rental contract as regulated. If the property is used for tourism accommodation services, its owners must follow the laws on tourism.

Prior to that, the Agency for Document Review and Administrative Violation Management summarized the issues, shortcomings, and recommendations from different parties. 

According to the Housing Law 2023, documents guiding the implementation of the law, and MOC’s document 4757, using apartments for non-residential purposes is strictly prohibited.

Airbnb apartment rentals mean that tenants use apartments for residential purposes. There are currently no regulations that specify how many days are considered ‘short-term rental’, or prohibit owners from renting out their apartments.

In fact, apartment owners can lease their apartments for long term residential purposes. Therefore, it is illogical to prohibit short-term leasing via Airbnb. Apartment owners who do not live in the apartments have the right to rent it out, which is one of the property rights of the owner as stipulated in the Civil Code.

One of the reasons that prompted state agencies to prohibit short-term apartment rentals is that short-term residents may upset the lives of permanent residents of the same apartment blocks.

However, experts said instead of a complete ban, management solutions should be applied. For instance, owners should be required to register their business, ensure security and fire safety, and avoid impacting the apartment community.

The report proposed specific legal regulations for managing short-term rental activities in apartments. If short-term rentals remain banned, authorities could consider deterrent sanctions for violations.

The Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency said it would report the issues to competent authorities for amendments soon.

Chair of the HCM City Real Estate Association (HOREA) Le Hoang Chau said the association has proposed that MOC amend some provisions of the 2023 Housing Law, Decree 95/2024 and Circular 05/2024.

According to HoREA’s preliminary statistics, HCM City has 8,740 apartments across 24 projects rented short-term via Airbnb.

Hong Khanh