Stating it clearly: A banner is hung at the entrance stating the ban on short-term homestays at one of the apartments in Gelugor, Penang. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Residential property investors hoping to make a killing from the short-term stay business are likely to find it an uphill task with the new regulations in place.
State local government, housing, town and country planning committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said other residents would now need to give their consent to units being used for short-term stays.
“I do not think it will be easy for one to gain approval from all other residents in a high-rise building. Even then, there are limitations.
“They will need to have a general meeting and seek approval.”
Jagdeep said the Penang government has two guidelines for short-term stays – one for high-rises and the other for landed properties.
“Both guidelines were approved by the state executive council on March 8 and will now be enforced.
“We have received many complaints regarding short-term stays. Such practices disrupt the lives of other residents,” he said.
“We formulated these guidelines not to deny property owners the right to rent them out, but to regulate short-term stays.”
Jagdeep said that for stratified projects classified as residential, one must first obtain approval from the joint management body (JMB) or management corporation (MC) through an AGM, on top of complying with other terms in the guidelines.
“Serviced apartments classified as being in a commercial zone must comply as well.
“If approval is given (for the residential or commercial properties), the short-term stay must not be for more than three days per reservation.
“On top of that, each unit must not be booked for more than 180 days in a year,” he added.
Jagdeep said many residential high-rise buildings had put up banners clearly stating that short-term stays are not allowed.
“It is clear that it will be difficult for people to convince many JMBs or MCs to allow them to use their units in that way,” he said.
Jagdeep said hotels in Penang are well equipped to cater to the needs of tourists.
“We must be fair to the people and the tourism sector,” he said.
Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) national vice-president Datuk Khoo Boo Lim said the guidelines would help hotels.
“We are not able to stop them from operating but with rules in place, there will be no abuse.
“They will need to follow guidelines and only those who comply will be allowed to operate.
“This will definitely help hotels as the number of short-term stay units will drop,” he said.
However, the Asia Travel Technology Industry Association (Attia) urged the state government to reconsider its decision to enforce the new guidelines.
It said the new guidelines are “untested, disproportionate, and complicated”.
“The Penang Government should have considered co-regulation and self-regulation approaches, such as voluntary code-of-conduct style frameworks, which have successfully reduced noise and nuisance issues in short-term stay homes without imposing onerous requirements,” the association said in a recent statement.
Attia said most short-term stay hosts are individuals and not companies, and such individuals could be “pushed out from participating in the lucrative sharing economy”.
The association said short-term stays complement hotels by catering to “price-sensitive digital nomads and youth travellers”, and also families wanting to rent a whole house for their holidays.
Attia is an NGO representing global businesses dealing in travel and tourism in Asia Pacific, including online room and flight booking portals.
