Lesson 1: Luxury apartments suffer from overload of… tourists

In 24 apartment projects in District 1, District 4, District 7, District 10 and Thu Duc City in Ho Chi Minh City alone, there are at least 8,740 apartments that have been put up for short-term rental by owners through the Air Bed and Breakfast (Airbnb) application. This is an online platform that connects people who need to rent houses and rooms with people who need to rent.

While the government is still struggling with whether to ban or manage this activity, this activity is stirring up two opposing public opinions, including the need for legal protection for legal business activities and the disagreement with renting apartments to tourists for short-term stays, affecting the lives and activities of other residents in the apartment buildings...

Residents and owners of apartments and offices with staff (officetel) at River Gate Residence apartment building (No. 151-155 Ben Van Don, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City) said that in 2018, this apartment building was put into operation with functions and floors divided according to the Construction Permit dated August 19, 2016. In which, floors 1-3 are for community activity room, trade - service; floors 4-6 are used for officetel purposes. In tower A, floor 7 is used as community activity room, trade - service for residential area; floors 8-27 are for apartment purposes. Tower B from floors 7-20 is used as officetel, from floors 21-33 is used for apartment and technical room purposes. The Construction Permit granted for this project also clearly states: "The officetel functional area of ​​the project does not have residential function".

Management issues need to be raised as more apartment owners will participate in renting on Airbnb.

Thus, RiverGate Residence is a mixed-use apartment building, including 3 types: residential apartments, officetels and commercial centers, without a tourist apartment model according to the above regulations of the City People's Committee. Based on these bases, many residents here believe that the business of tourism services and short-term accommodation is not in accordance with the approved function. However, since the City People's Committee issued Decision No. 26/2025/QD-UBND dated February 27, 2025 (Decision 26) regulating the management and use of apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, the situation of tourists staying short-term at this apartment building has not changed, even worse.

Residents of this luxury apartment building also complained that while other apartments in District 4 such as Gold View, Millenium, The Tresor, Icon 56, Saigon Royal and many other apartments in the city such as Vinhomes Grand Park, Masterise Centre Point, Lumiere Riverside... have issued recommendations and regulations prohibiting short-term tourist rentals, this activity is still taking place every day at River Gate Residence. Other apartments prohibit it, so short-term tourists flock to River Gate Residence. Every day, the apartment lobby is overloaded. Tourists with backpacks, bags, and suitcases sit scattered in the lobby, in the common hallway, in front of convenience stores and on the apartment steps, creating an extremely messy scene. The high number of short-term guests overloads the apartment's elevator system, causing continuous maintenance, causing unsafety and costing the residents' maintenance fund.

Residents of the apartment building have to live in instability and anxiety. Residents have repeatedly reported this issue to the Management Board and the Apartment Building Management Board, but have received silence; they have not received a satisfactory answer. Many residents have arbitrarily hung protest banners outside their apartments. Despite being mobilized by the local authorities, on April 23, when we were there, some banners had not been taken down by residents.

In contrast to the above situation, right after the City People's Committee issued Decision 26, Ms. Nguyen Thuong Hoai (Binh Trung Dong Ward, Thu Duc City) represented a group of residents who have apartments for rent on the Airbnb platform and sent a petition to Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee. Representatives of these residents requested the city leaders to clearly answer whether Decision No. 26 and the Housing Law 2023 prohibit short-term rental activities through the Airbnb service or not? If prohibited, which legal provisions does the City People's Committee rely on to prohibit short-term apartment rentals? If not prohibited, what procedures must people follow and what conditions must they meet? According to Ms. Hoai, the above decision has seriously affected the legal rights of landlords when the Board of Directors and Management Boards based on it to make regulations that only rent apartments for a minimum term of 30 days and that the rental contract must be submitted 2-7 days before the tenant moves in. This is a serious violation of the law and needs to be handled by the City People's Committee.

The basis provided by Ms. Hoai is the response document of the Ministry of Construction , which clearly states: According to the 2023 Housing Law, the owner of the house has the right to use it for residential purposes and other purposes not prohibited by law. The 2023 Housing Law also does not prohibit the owner from renting out an apartment for residential purposes. In the case of renting a house, including renting via Airbnb, the parties must enter into a rental contract and the business of tourist accommodation services must also comply with the provisions of the law on tourism.

On March 31, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong assigned the Department of Construction to coordinate with relevant units based on the Housing Law; Resolutions of the National Assembly on the urban government model, specific policies and mechanisms for the development of Ho Chi Minh City; regulations on the management and use of apartment buildings in the area and the results of the assessment of the actual situation in recent times regarding the management and handling of issues arising from the short-term accommodation model in apartment buildings to ensure security and safety for people living here. At the same time, research and propose mechanisms for economic and tourism development to propose to the City People's Committee for consideration.

Commenting on this issue, the City Real Estate Association said that the regulation prohibiting "using apartments for purposes other than residence" is not newly stipulated in Article 3 of the 2023 Housing Law, but previously, this content was also stipulated in Article 6 of the 2014 Housing Law. The question is why, in the 10 years of implementing the 2014 Housing Law, despite the above prohibition, it has not caused difficulties or hindered the activities of apartment owners renting out short-term accommodation on the Airbnb application.

On the contrary, only after the Housing Law 2023 re-regulated this content, did the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issue Decision 26, leading to the fact that the management boards of apartment buildings in the area do not allow apartment owners to rent out short-term stays on the Airbnb application. "Why is it that only Ho Chi Minh City has issued regulations not allowing the rental of apartments for short-term stays on the Airbnb application, while other localities do not prohibit it?" is the concern of Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the City Real Estate Association.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/bai-1-chung-cu-hang-sang-kho-vi-qua-tai-du-khach-i766428/