Service-apartment operator charged over letting out private homes for short-term rental
International Service Apartments and three members of its senior management face a total of 37 counts for doing this
[SINGAPORE] Local accommodation-service provider International Service Apartments (ISA) and three of its senior management staff were charged in court on Tuesday (Mar 25) over illegally providing short-term accommodation in private residential properties.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a statement that it laid before the company nine charges of the unauthorised development of the private residential properties.
ISA deputy chief executive officer Piao Xianfen faces eight counts of the same offence; another two directors, Peter Liu and Lee Ming Fong, were each charged with 10 counts of the offence.
The company and the three individuals allegedly provided short-term accommodation in various private residential properties, which contravenes the Planning Act, said URA.
Under the Act, it is an offence to convert the use of a property for short-term accommodation without the agency’s approval. Offenders may be fined up to S$200,000 on each charge.
ISA says on its website that it was launched in 1992 and provides corporate service and residential apartments in Singapore. These properties are in Buona Vista, Clementi, near Haw Par Villa, and in Novena and Queenstown.
Last July, the authorities said that 71 offenders have been fined since 2019 for providing illegal short-term stays in Singapore. Of these, 64 were fined for letting out private residential properties for such stays, and the remaining seven, for doing so with public flats.
The minimum stay in private homes is three consecutive months, and six months in public homes.
URA said in its statement on Tuesday that it takes a serious stance against the illegal use of private residential properties to provide short-term stays. “(We) will continue to investigate and take strict enforcement action against those found to have committed such offences.”
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