LETTER | 'Homestays' the bane of a residential area

LETTER | I have lived in a residential gated community for the past 15 years and it has had its ups and downs like most in the country have had, but nothing like the recent uncontrolled proliferation of “homestays” in our community. I use the inverted brackets for the term as it is in all honesty, nowhere near the concept of a “homestay” but a holiday home rental. 

These unregulated holiday rentals have taken full advantage of the governments and town councils' lack of laws pertaining to such and have now become a menace to those residents of such communities. These operators have absolutely no regard for the residents of the communities they have set up camp in and probably flout every law of the local council as well. 

Outlined below are some of the issues and concerns many of the residents share and have yet to be addressed by local councils and state governments.

The noise all day and night never minding the pollution (garbage) left behind the next day is only the tip of the problem. Stray cats, dogs and monkeys then spread the garbage around for a day or two so when the regular waste removal people come by twice a week (they are not contracted to clean up) it is now infested with vermin and may hang about until the next rains or some community-minded person cleans it up.

Since the revenue value of a "homestay” with a swimming pool is way more than that of one without a pool almost all the homes converted overnight have had some form of pool installed. Without a doubt, none of them have had planning permission and probably do not meet any safety standard if there are any here in Malaysia regarding swimming pools. 

They are being filled with treated drinking water from the tap at the same rate as a home would pay for domestic water. Since the filtration systems installed are budget ones the pools are filled regularly. I am not sure what safety or lifesaving equipment is on hand for the people using these rental properties but going by the one next door, the pool is filled with people from sunrise until very late at night to way past capacity. It’s only a matter of time before there is an accident and loss of life before the authorities take action.

Overcrowding and the associated joys of a "homestay”. People renting these properties take full advantage of them and fit as many people into the place as possible. The one next door to me usually has between seven and 10 carloads of people for a night. So more often than not, there are way more people staying than the stipulated maximum of 30 they advertise the place is capable of accommodating. As it is a mirror image of my home I know it has only four bedrooms and three bathrooms, with two being en-suite while one is shared. 

The systems in these places were not designed for this capacity so it’s only a matter of time before it fails. The place down the road had 25 cars last night and the noise went on until well after 3am. Our fun-loving temporary neighbours called it a night at 2.30am after the owners were contacted a number of times. Since our community is made up of mostly permanent residents, some retired while others are working and have school-going children, this influx of carloads of inconsiderate people on weekends, public holidays and school holidays (when “homestays” are going for a premium) is not only extremely annoying but a huge disruption to the community. 

Having the roads clogged with abandoned cars, people in the streets shouting and making noise at all hours of the night, cars and bikes racing on our village roads at all hours of the night, hooting and car alarms going off, might as well live in a city.

Now I pay domestic rates for my utilities as I live in my home. But most if not all the “homestays” in our area who are making a small fortune out of their domestic properties as full-time holiday rentals should be paying commercial rates for their electricity, water and sewerage services, be licenced and regulated, and pay municipal land rates and taxes associated with commercial premises. My water rate at my office is three times the rate for minimum use as is with the other utilities.

Health and safety checks should be enforced on these premises and I wonder if any have basic firefighting equipment. A bungalow with grills on all entrances locked at night with 30 tenants asleep in a strange location will be a disaster should a fire break out. My office fire extinguishers need checking yearly and approval certified before my business licence can be renewed.

As a gated community, all residents are encouraged to pay for the security services, a bone of contention in many gated residences, but with the influx of strangers and their vehicles, this has put a huge burden on this service and an added issue that resident associations have to deal with. 

To add insult to injury, there are a number of “homestays” belonging to the same people and more often than not they refuse to contribute to the security services that they advertise their prestigious property is located in. Not to mention the abuse these unwanted residents more often than not give the gated security who are just carrying out the duties they are employed to do.

Now I really do feel for the people who have invested in a bungalow or home, renovated it with pride and invested a small fortune into the upgrades for their retirement in a nice quiet suburb or community and then have some inconsiderate investor purchase next door and do a rush upgrade to cash in on this “homestay” phenomenon. 

They will soon realise the nightmare next door is real, the value of their property has just fallen through the floor and nobody in their right mind other than a “homestay” pioneer would purchase their pride and joy.

Last but not least, the current government is under huge financial constraint and pressure after scrapping GST and paying back the 1MDB debts, it may want to investigate this very lucrative industry of untapped resources. I very much doubt that this undeclared cash income is in any way taxed. 

With the going rate of these holiday home rentals, “homestays” going between RM1,000 and RM2,000 per night, at 52 weekends, and throw in some public holidays and school holidays, I now understand why they are taking over some of the quieter residential communities.

I fully understand the original concept of the homestay, the people it was meant to assist and its target market, but what is being touted as a homestay in many residential areas is far from the concept and does nothing for those it was intended to help.

Unless the state governments and local councils do something about this menace it is going to manifest itself into something really ugly and very hard to reverse and regulate in the near future.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.