Renting out your S'pore private apartment for a short homestay is now illegal under an updated law

Need to find new ways to earn spare cash.

Henedick Chng | February 07, 2017, 05:41 PM

Bad news if you’re thinking of renting out your apartment to tourists via Airbnb for a few days. It is now illegal.

In Parliament on Feb. 6, amendments were passed to the Planning Act, making it an offence under the law for private property owners to rent out their homes for less than six months.

On the amendments, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said that private residential properties should not be used for other purposes without planning approval, as there was a need to safeguard the living environment of residents in the neighbourhood.

Wong noted that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had seen a 60 per cent rise in complaints from home-owners about breaches of the rule on the short-terming letting of their residential properties. He said that the complaints were related to public nuisance and safety concerns.

Under the updated law, those caught renting out their properties for less than six months will face a fine of up to $200,000 or jail up to a year, which follows the earlier guidelines set out by URA.

To enforce the law, URA officers’ powers to investigate suspected infringements will also be enhanced, allowing them to interview and question suspects, and where necessary, effect forced entry into properties to perform their investigation.

Despite the latest changes, however, Wong said that URA was studying possibility of reducing the six-month minimum rental period and the creation of a new use category that would allow owners of private residences to rent out their properties for the short term.

Here's a little known trail in Singapore you should be checking out:

This free trail lets you jalan jalan through 20th century Serangoon in 40 minutes

Top photo from Pinterest.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.