Ho Chi Minh City Apartment Short-term Rental Ban (Airbnb)

Ho Chi Minh City bans short-term apartment rentals

On March 4, 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee (VNF) issued regulations on the management and use of apartment buildings.

The gist is that residential apartments cannot be used for short-term rental businesses.

Accordingly, all apartments are prohibited from being operated for rental business purposes, such as short-term rentals, daily rentals, hourly rentals, or Airbnb.

Apartments that operate tourist accommodation businesses must be registered as tourist accommodation facilities.

In order to meet the conditions of a rental business, the conditions and criteria stipulated in the Tourism Act must be met.

In the case of residential apartments, they cannot be used for rental purposes according to regulations, and in order to use the apartment for rental purposes, a contract must be signed between the apartment owner and the person who wants to rent the apartment (the apartment rental contract does not require separate notarization or certification).

The condominium management committee and condominium operation management must ensure the safety and order of condominiums by requiring those using the rental apartments based on the lease agreement to comply with the regulations on the management and use of condominiums, and must ensure that they do not affect other residents living in the condominiums.

According to regulations, renting out apartments on a daily or hourly basis is a similar accommodation activity to a hotel and requires a lodging service business license. When operating a lodging business, you must be thorough in issuing invoices, reporting and paying taxes, and preventing fires and security. In addition, all guests must register their temporary residence with the local authorities.

If an apartment is used for purposes other than residential purposes, a fine of VND 2,000-4,000 will be imposed, and the apartment will be forced to be used for residential purposes, thereby halting business activities.

In fact, many apartments in Ho Chi Minh City are for short-term rental purposes. There are many apartments that are leased for one year by people who are not apartment owners but rental business owners and use the apartments for short-term rental purposes.

Ho Chi Minh City says it is very difficult to control these short-term rental businesses.

Ho Chi Minh City's goal this time is to more strictly manage rental activities of tourist accommodation facilities and to return the living environment to apartment residents.

In addition, as the opposition from those who are currently doing rental business is very strong, Ho Chi Minh City is planning to give a grace period until May 15, 2025 and then implement strong legal crackdowns.

Even today, signs prohibiting short-term rentals are often installed at the entrances to apartment complexes.

This is a sign prohibiting short-term rentals in front of an apartment complex in Ho Chi Minh City.

This is a sign prohibiting short-term rentals in front of an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City.