BOTH Mr Wong Shih Shen ("Look at big picture, work towards mitigating risk") and Ms Beatrice Tang ("Hotels have means, obligation to check guest reliability"; both published last Friday) make valid points for and against allowing short-term rentals.
The condominium I live in has been facing this issue for some years.
Rooms are blatantly advertised on websites like Airbnb. The landlords and their agents play a cat-and-mouse game with the management committee - including amateur detective work where attempts are made to trail these agents. So far, there has been no luck in catching them.
But we see unfamiliar faces at the swimming pool and around the grounds - typically, a transient crowd of young, fit-looking foreigners.
For parents with children, it is a matter of concern. For those of us who use the facilities, it is having to share them with still more people (transient crowds tend to use the pool more).
It also means an increased burden on the security guards who patrol the grounds, which, in turn, means higher maintenance fees for all because of the added manpower required.
In other words, there is a higher social and financial cost incurred, which is borne not only by the short-term landlord, but also by every other strata title owner.
To address this, if short-term rentals are to be allowed, the legislation should also allow the management corporation strata title (MCST) to impose higher maintenance fees on the short-term landlord.
These fees should cover not only the higher associated costs of short-term leases on the rest of the owners, but also a fund for private investigator costs so as to catch those who lease out their premises for the short term without permission.
The legislation should also allow the MCST to impose deterrent fines on such short-term landlords when they are caught.
The short-term landlord can then decide whether this activity is economically viable, based on the true costs of doing so.
Even with the ability to impose higher fees, many of the other owners may not like the idea of short-term rentals in their development at all. Therefore, the legislation should also cater for this by letting the issue be put to a vote within the MCST.
As for HDB estates, similar principles may be applied within the town council structure.
In this way, hopefully, a balance may be struck between competing interests.
Josephine Chong Siew Nyuk (Ms)
The condominium I live in has been facing this issue for some years.
Rooms are blatantly advertised on websites like Airbnb. The landlords and their agents play a cat-and-mouse game with the management committee - including amateur detective work where attempts are made to trail these agents. So far, there has been no luck in catching them.
But we see unfamiliar faces at the swimming pool and around the grounds - typically, a transient crowd of young, fit-looking foreigners.
For parents with children, it is a matter of concern. For those of us who use the facilities, it is having to share them with still more people (transient crowds tend to use the pool more).
It also means an increased burden on the security guards who patrol the grounds, which, in turn, means higher maintenance fees for all because of the added manpower required.
In other words, there is a higher social and financial cost incurred, which is borne not only by the short-term landlord, but also by every other strata title owner.
To address this, if short-term rentals are to be allowed, the legislation should also allow the management corporation strata title (MCST) to impose higher maintenance fees on the short-term landlord.
These fees should cover not only the higher associated costs of short-term leases on the rest of the owners, but also a fund for private investigator costs so as to catch those who lease out their premises for the short term without permission.
The legislation should also allow the MCST to impose deterrent fines on such short-term landlords when they are caught.
The short-term landlord can then decide whether this activity is economically viable, based on the true costs of doing so.
Even with the ability to impose higher fees, many of the other owners may not like the idea of short-term rentals in their development at all. Therefore, the legislation should also cater for this by letting the issue be put to a vote within the MCST.
As for HDB estates, similar principles may be applied within the town council structure.
In this way, hopefully, a balance may be struck between competing interests.
Josephine Chong Siew Nyuk (Ms)
