Hospitality group among 4 firms charged over providing illegal short-term stays

CNA

8 hours ago

SINGAPORE: Four companies, including a hospitality group, and two individuals have been charged in court for allegedly providing illegal short-term accommodation.
They are said to have provided unauthorised short-term stays at 170 units within 50 private residential developments across Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a media release on Tuesday (Jul 1).
The accused were handed a total of 340 counts of providing illegal short-term accommodation across two separate cases, with each charge carrying a maximum fine of S$200,000 (US$157,379).
The minimum stay duration for private residential properties is three consecutive months.
URA said this rule is intended to prevent frequent turnover of transient occupants, "which can potentially change the residential character of a property and could negatively impact neighbouring residents".
THE CASES
Three companies - MR Singapore, Metro Relocations and Cleaning Centre - face a total of 90 counts of providing illegal short-term accommodation, while their director, James Chua Yun Da, was handed another 90 counts on Tuesday.
These offences were allegedly carried out at 90 units across 22 private residential developments across the country, URA said.
URA also said that on Jun 17, it had charged ST Hospitality and its former chief operating officer, Joshua Goh Keng Hong, with 80 counts each of providing unauthorised short-term accommodation.
ST Hospitality and Goh had allegedly committed the offence at 80 units within 28 private residential developments across Singapore.
According to ST Hospitality's website, it runs service apartments at 12 Kim Keat Road in Balestier as well as five co-living hotels in areas such as Bugis, Tanjong Pagar, Chinatown and Jalan Besar. ST Hospitality is a a wholly owned subsidiary of Katrina Group, whose F&B arm operates brands like Bali Thai and So Pho.
STRICT ENFORCEMENT ACTION
URA said it takes a serious stance on the illegal use of private residential properties to provide short-term accommodation as it contravenes the Planning Act and is a punishable offence.
"URA will continue to investigate and take strict enforcement action against those found to have committed such offences."
In March, International Service Apartments, along with its deputy CEO and two directors, were charged for allegedly providing illegal short-term stays in Singapore. The company offers service apartments for rent.
In July last year, the Housing Board and URA jointly told CNA that a total of 71 offenders had been fined since 2019 for providing illegal short-term stays in Singapore.
Of these, 64 were fined for providing such stays in private properties.
Another 15 people were taken to court and prosecuted for providing short stays in private properties.
This came after CNA found more than 15 Airbnb listings in Singapore – some for two or three nights.
Members of the public play an important role in safeguarding their neighbourhoods against illegal short-term accommodation in private residential properties, URA said, adding that they can also provide feedback via its website.