Datu Dr Penguang Manggil
MIRI: Regulating property rentals for the short term is necessary but ample time should be given to proprietors to comply with the requirements of the relevant authorities.
Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil said this will ensure public safety, compliance with government requirements and a level playing field for property owners.
He was asked to comment on Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president Cheah Swee Hee’s call for Malaysia to emulate a Paris city council ruling concerning property-letting website Airbnb.
The council had reportedly ruled that people renting out their apartments for short-term rental services like Airbnb must now register their properties with the government, a move which the hotel industry in Paris had been lobbying against, claiming that Airbnb and similar services create unfair competition.
Penguang agreed that that a regularisation exercise is the way forward and the relevant authorities would have to enforce it against those who fail to meet the requirements.
Cheah had called on Malaysian local authorities to follow suit to expedite regulation of the illegal operators and Airbnb to ensure a level playing field.
Airbnb is a ‘peer-to-peer online marketplace and homestay network that enables people to list or rent short-term lodging in residential properties’ and this service has grown in popularity since its inception in 2008.
Sarawakians have taken to this phenomenon of renting out houses, operating under the radar of the local authorities and their requirements but there are no official figures of the actual number operating in the state.
A joint memorandum sent recently by MAH, the Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (Maho) and the Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MyBHA) to the government on the tourism tax stated 3,126 accommodation providers are registered with the ministry.
On the other hand, they said there are 6,452 unregistered accommodation providers on Agoda.com – a popular travel fare aggregator website – and 11,698 accommodation providers on Airbnb as of April this year.
Unlike operators of illegal hotels and Airbnb, hotels have to comply with regulations, including paying for business fees, licences and commercial rates for utilities.
Penguang said each local council in Sarawak has a current record of both licensed and unlicensed hotels, inns, lodging houses as well as homestay premises in their respective area of jurisdiction.
Three authorities would have to give the nod before a licence could be issued by the local government – Land and Survey Department on any changes in building use, Fire and Rescue Department on fire safety aspects and staircases and local authorities on health and hygiene aspects.
The assistant minister pointed out that the pitfalls of unregulated Airbnb premises are they are unlicensed and unauthorised conversion or use of shop houses or residential houses.
“Fire safety also leaves much to be desired as it does not comply with the safety requirements of Bomba, issues of hygiene and could be used for immoral activities,” he pointed out.