Singapore is bound to join a growing list of countries that have tightened the rules and regulated Airbnb’s disruptive services. The regulations will also hit similar home-sharing platforms, said Yahoo news today.
One of the measures could the imposition of fines against recalcitrant home-owners who do not remove their properties from Airbnb listing after fulfilling the rental period imposed.
The overall belief among authorities in places that are seeing a boom in short-term rentals is that these properties should be taxed in some special category beyond just traditional property tax.
What makes Singapore a unique case is the fact that strict rules haven’t slowed down the supply or the demand for short-term properties, said the portal.
Tourists looking for rentals in Singapore are caught in the middle of the battle over short-term rentals. While new rules are on the books, Singapore doesn’t appear to be cracking down very harshly on property owners with listings that are in violation of those rules.
Authorities could begin imposing fines and other consequences on property owners. This could cause them to pull their listings or cancel reservations at the last minute. Such scenarios would obviously be problematic for a traveler planning a trip. However, Airbnb has yet to make any move warning renters about the potential for issues when making reservations in Singapore.
A Look at the Short-Term Rental Scene in Singapore
While tourism in Singapore has actually surged this year this isn’t being reflected in hotel revenues and receipts. This likely means that tourists are choosing to rent private homes during their stays instead of following the traditional route of checking into hotels and resorts.
What Singapore Is Doing to Limit Short-Term Rentals
Authorities in Singapore took some moves this summer to place limitations on how long residents can rent out their properties to visitors.
However, many short-term rental agencies continue to list available properties for stays that are much shorter than the three-month minimum.