HOMESHARING hosts are urging the state government and Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to regulate short-term rental operations.
Homeshare operator Amir Farhan, 25, who has been renting out his apartment for the past seven months, said there was no proper regulation for short-term rental.
“We are confused about how the matter is handled by local authorities as MBPP has penalised some homeshare hosts by issuing summonses for renting out their units.
“MBPP issued summonses stating thatrunning guest houses without licences is an offence but there is no such licence provided by the local authorities for this kind of rental service,” he said, adding that if there was such a licence, the hosts were ready to apply for it.
“Similar issues happened in Johor Baru and its council has clarified that no permission nor licence is needed from the city council to rent out one’s property.
“We want our council to come out with such a clarification and we would like to stress that we are not running homestayoperations or hotels but merely renting out our units,” he added.
