It's easy to find apartments available for rent by the hour

It is easy to find apartments available for rent by the hour. Facebook pages of groups of apartment residents have ads with detailed information about apartments – the area, location and characteristics. Landlords sometimes even show the interior decor of apartments for clients’ choice.

Apartments for hourly rent are mostly available at Vinhomes Central Park, Saigon Pearl in Binh Thanh district and Novaland in district 4. The rental is quoted in US dollars. The average rent is $45 a day for one-bedroom apartment, $55-60 for two-bedroom and $80 for 3-bedroom. The rent is lower in district 3 – only $35-45 for one-bedroom apartments.

The rates are rents for entire apartments. Meanwhile, those who share apartments with others only have to pay $25 a day only. If guests want to rent by the hour, they would have to pay less, but no less than $20 for two hours.

Apartments for hourly rent are also available in district 2, at high-end apartment blocks such as Masteri Thao Dien and Thao Dien Pearl, and the prices there are ‘more reasonable’ than in Binh Thanh district.

Hoang My, an executive of a company specializing in leasing apartments in central districts in HCMC, said the company signs contracts with landlords to rent their apartments for re-lease after upgrading the interior decoration. The monthly occupancy rate is 60-70 percent. The remaining apartments are reserved for lease by day and hour.

Le Hoang Chau, chair of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), said short-term renting is something between a homestay and hotel service. This is a new type of business, but has developed rapidly. However, the Housing Law and Real Estate Business Law do not mention the leasing of apartments by hour or day.

Property owners violate the Housing Law if they rent apartments as hotel rooms. Vietnam prohibits companies to set up offices in residential quarters. 

Apartments only serve as housing, while renting apartments is a type of business which must be registered with appropriate agencies. Meanwhile, hotel-like businesses in residential quarters are not allowed. The business can affect security of local residents, especially next-door apartments.

Some people have leased apartments by day to groups of gamblers or stimulant users, and were later found by the police.

However, Chau said this type of business has been present in many countries. HoREA is going to ask state management agencies to set a legal framework for the business.

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