Opportunities

ST reported today that some condo owners have turned their condos into “hotels” and called them “condotels”. Apparently, it’s illegal under URA regulations since condos are meant for long-term residential stay, not the few days’ tourist stay. Also, condo management have expressed concern that tenants may be irresponsible and not take care of facilities because they have no ownership.

The condo owners are enterprising. However, I believe that the article missed out another point of view-that of other condo owners. Some condo owners would have bought their condo for security or privacy reasons since there’s a security guard house which ensures privacy from salesmen, thieves, trespassers, stalkers etc. The short-term stay of tourists in the condos would compromise the security of other condo owners who have bought their condo for the above reasons since bad people can pose as tourists and commit housebreaking, thefts etc. They need only rent a room for one night, commit the theft and leave the next day. And you’d never know where to find them. If they are Singaporeans, there’s a chance they may still be caught. If they are real tourists, then they’d have left the country before you even know who robbed you. The opportunities for enterprising condo owners create opportunities for crime.

I do support entrepreneurship. However, I don’t think condos should be rented out for short-term stays. From the point of view of condo owners who bought their condo for more security, condotels would compromise on their security. But HDB flats as an alternative to condotels may be considered. HDB flats are already so open to the public ie. there's no security guard house to prevent salesmen from knocking on your door everyday. In this bad economic time, people who rent out their HDB flats to these tourists would have another source of income. Since majority of Singaporeans live in HDB flats, this could help some ease off their financial woes during this period. Further, the cost of a night’s stay in a Singapore hotel is on average $200++. The cost of a 2D1N trip to Malacca is about half of it. If I want to have a night’s getaway from my house, based on economic reasons, I’d choose Malacca over a Singapore hotel stay. Currently, a condo room is being rented out for $40 to $150 per night. Allowing Singaporeans to rent out their HDB rooms to these tourists would bring down the cost of hotel accommodation in Singapore. This would in turn attract more tourists to come to Singapore.