Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has a surprising proposal on renting apartments like hotels.

Regarding the fact that the City People's Committee is researching and receiving opinions from relevant agencies, units and individuals to supplement the provisions on the use of apartments for short-term rental, Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the Department of Tourism has reviewed the scientific research tasks related to the sharing economy in the accommodation sector and proposed to temporarily suspend this model.

- Ảnh 1. — Using an apartment as a hotel will destroy the residential character of the apartment building, violating the 2023 Housing Law.

From the perspective of the state management agency for tourism , the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism believes that implementing a shared accommodation model (like Airbnb) in apartment buildings without a full management framework can entail many risks.

Specifically, with the constant flow of visitors, the building management has difficulty controlling identity, leading to the risk of losing security and order. Failure to declare temporary residence, especially for foreign visitors, makes it difficult for authorities to manage security, order and statistics on residence. When an apartment is used as a hotel, the "residential" nature of the apartment building is broken, at the same time violating the provisions of the Housing Law 2023.

In addition to security issues, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism also pointed out the risks from apartment owners not registering their businesses or not declaring taxes according to regulations. Apartment buildings are designed for living, not for accommodation services, so it is difficult to control service quality and evaluate service standards for tourists.

This also creates unhealthy competition with the hotel system – which must comply with all regulations on fire safety, accommodation standards and price listing. Meanwhile, short-term rental apartment owners can lower prices at will, putting pressure on legal accommodation businesses.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism also warned of the legal risks that management agencies may face. Without a complete legal framework, the basis for handling violations is unclear, causing difficulties in inspection, examination and handling of violations. At the same time, disputes can easily arise between residents, apartment owners, building management boards and technology platforms, but are difficult to resolve without specific legal guidance.

Previously, in a report sent to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City said that it had received many strong objections to this model. In particular, the Department of Justice held the view that the current pilot draft has many legal contents, such as regulations on conditions for using apartments and responsibilities of related parties, which are not completely consistent with current laws. Therefore, this agency proposed to review to avoid issuing documents with illegal content and, if necessary, to add regulations to Decision 26/2025 on management and use of apartment buildings that Ho Chi Minh City had previously issued.

At the recent dialogue conference on apartment building management and operation organized by the Department of Construction in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center, the issue of short-term rental continued to face many objections. Delegates were concerned that if the pilot model was implemented without a full monitoring mechanism, this model could disrupt the lives of residents and affect security and order in the buildings.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/so-du-lich-tphcm-co-de-nghi-bat-ngo-ve-thue-can-ho-nhu-khach-san-196251203101041527.htm