The new regulation for the long-term lease of resort rooms and villas was published in the government gazette on Tuesday.
According to the regulation published by the Tourism Ministry, an apartment, villa or room built in a resort can be leased for long-term use.
Rooms leased for a long term can have a zone of land for the exclusive use of the tenant and the lease can be confirmed before construction or while work is ongoing to build the resort property.
Five groups have the right to lease resort rooms or villas. They are parties that have rented islands for resort development, the owner of the lease if subleased, the developer that is building an integrated resort and the party that has subleased such a resort.
The regulation mandates registration before leasing resort rooms or villas for long term. Each room can be registered for a fee of MVR 5,000 (USD 324).
The government is required to maintain a registry of such rooms. The registry should also include the details of such rooms and the tenant.
