About 600 suspected cases of illegal short-term rentals investigated each year
By Tessa Oh
 

SINGAPORE — The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has investigated an average of about 600 suspected cases of illegal short-term accommodation a year in the last five years, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said.

Among the cases investigated, 10 recalcitrant offenders have been charged in court while 14 people have been issued composition fines since May, he added.

Mr Wong gave these figures on Monday (Sept 2) in response to a parliamentary question from Member of Parliament (MP) Joan Pereira, who asked about the number of owners who have been issued warnings and charged for offering short-term rentals as well as for the number of repeat offenders.

Ms Pereira, who is an MP for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC), also asked for the demographic — age, nationalities and number of properties owned — of the property owners who have been offering short-term rentals.

The offenders comprise both property owners and tenants, Mr Wong said, adding that they come from a wide range of age groups and a majority of them are Singaporeans.

While some of the offenders have been responsible for a large number of the short-term rental listings, the URA has found that they usually do not own the properties and instead rent them from the owners before subletting them illegally to short-term occupants.

In these cases, Mr Wong said, the property owners will also be “held liable for the infringements occurring in their properties”.

A composition fine of up to S$5,000 will be issued to first-time offenders who rent out their homes on a casual basis.

“For recalcitrant offenders and those who undertake STA (short-term accommodation) operations on a commercial basis, URA will prosecute them in court and seek significantly higher penalties,” Mr Wong said.

Four of the 10 serious offenders have been fined between S$13,000 and S$70,000 by the court.

The remaining six face a total of more than 80 charges and their cases are now before the court. They comprise a mix of Singaporeans and foreigners on work passes, and are between the ages of 28 and 62.

The most severe of these cases involves a 62-year-old Singaporean man who faces 55 charges in relation to unauthorised short-term accommodation at properties in the Beach Road, Whampoa and Gopeng Street areas, among others, URA said.