Authorities urged to guard against community deterioration

THE CONVERSION of residential homes into commercial property, based on short-term rental, also creates problems for the planning authorities, Dr Archer opines.

“There is an implication for the type of use, because there is a distinction in the approval for residential versus commercial. What technically should happen is, if I am providing a service, which is in line with a hotel, then that is a separate approval from residential,” she explained, noting that the building code and fees for each establishment would be different.

Importantly, Dr Archer reasoned that the rapid growth of short-term rental has implications for the development and maintenance of communities. She says shortterm rental should be managed at a community level to guard against transient patterns of development, which may lead to the eventual deterioration of communities.

For example, she noted that there should be a process of registration for these accommodations, particularly within the context of the country’s safety and security issues.

“Do we have the requisite infrastructure – social and otherwise – to support this kind of activity? It’s similar to student housing, where there is an infrastructure, working with the universities in Mona, for example, to support that high turnover of population in a community,” she stated, noting that in cases of strata developments, amendments to strata laws should also be contemplated.

“Thanks to the boom in shortterm rental, we are now forced to consider these issues,” she affirmed.