HoREA recommends that Ho Chi Minh City lift the ban on short-term apartment rental services

The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has just sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Department of Construction, proposing to amend Decision 26/2025/QD-UBND - a new regulation issued on February 27 related to the short-term apartment rental model in apartment buildings through platforms such as Airbnb.

According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of HoREA, this written opinion, in addition to meeting the requirements of the Department of Construction, also aims to respond to the petition of Ms. Nguyen Thuong Hoai (a resident of Thu Duc City), representing 77 individuals who are doing short-term accommodation business in apartment buildings in the city.

Most apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City have banned short-term accommodation services.

According to Mr. Chau, Decision 26 currently stipulates that all short-term rental activities in apartment buildings, including through the Airbnb application, are prohibited. This means that thousands of apartments in Ho Chi Minh City are being affected. Meanwhile, HoREA believes that renting apartments for living purposes - even for a short time - is still completely in accordance with current laws, because this is an activity in the field of real estate business with conditions and the tenant uses it for the right purpose of "living", not as an office, warehouse or other commercial purposes.

From the Association’s perspective, the ban is the result of inconsistent understanding between the 2014 Housing Law, the 2023 Housing Law, and Ho Chi Minh City’s new Decision 26. While many other localities have yet to take similar bans, Ho Chi Minh City’s tightening could create an imbalance in the market.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thuong Hoai, there are currently 8,740 apartments in 24 apartment buildings being rented out short-term via the Airbnb platform. She estimates that each apartment is worth about VND5 billion, with the total related assets amounting to VND43,700 billion. Many owners have to borrow from banks at a rate of 70%, equivalent to a total outstanding debt of nearly VND30,590 billion and an annual interest of more than VND2,750 billion. The sudden ban not only causes great difficulties for people, but also affects the competitiveness of Ho Chi Minh City in the field of accommodation and urban tourism .

Faced with this situation, HoREA proposed that Ho Chi Minh City should adjust the content of Article 12 of Decision 26, in the direction of allowing apartment owners to rent short-term if they ensure compliance with construction laws, meet housing conditions, business registration and tax obligations, and fully declare the accommodation for tenants.

In addition, the Association also recommends that the National Assembly soon supplement and clarify the concepts in the 2023 Housing Law, helping local authorities have a basis for consistency in implementation.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/horea-kien-nghi-tp-hcm-bo-lenh-cam-dich-vu-cho-thue-can-ho-ngan-ngay-196250422101335515.htm