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Day to day   The  downturn may make  life  dificult  at work,  but  it  is making  life easier  in terms of the range of accommodation options you can ind in  the city. Alex Frew McMillan  looks  into  increased lexibility  in  the serviced-apartment sector     In these uncertain times, it’s difficult to commit to a property purchase.  If you don’t know whether your job is going to be there next month or next week, even a year-long  lease  (with  two months of rent down as a deposit) may be a more serious commitment than you’re willing to make. But no one enjoys living out of a suitcase. Hotels are  impersonal and impermanent, which  can  get  a  bit  depressing  if  you’re  living there long term. And they are often expensive, to boot.Serviced apartments look to fill the niche between a hotel and an apartment. They offer a place that you can call home and, to some degree, make your own, without committing yourself to a conventional lease. They have proved popular in Hong Kong both with travelling executives and professionals, and families who are  relocating but don’t yet know where  they would  like to live. Serviced apartments have  traditionally offered monthly  rates, with discounts for longer stays of three or six months, or even a  year.  But  what  many  people  don’t  know  is  that  serviced apartments can also offer shorter stays and even daily rates if the operator so chooses.An  increasing  number  of  serviced-apartment  properties  are offering  these daily  rates,  thanks  to  the slumping economy and  rising  vacancies. The  change  is happening quietly, and you won’t hear the operators broadcasting the fact, but they are  getting  more  flexible  about  the  length  of  stay  they’re willing to offer. “It seems  the market  is quiet compared with before, so some serviced  apartments  are  starting  to  rent  on  a  daily  basis,” confirms Clara Chu, the associate director of residential leasing at Colliers. “But most of the serviced apartments, even if they do a daily rate, aren’t putting an ad in the paper.”Serviced apartments are only able  to offer a daily  rate  if  they are licensed as a guesthouse, a kind of hotel license. So not all of them can do it – if they aren’t officially guesthouses, they can only offer a monthly rate. The  hotel  industry  is,  not  surprisingly,  keen  to  make  sure serviced  apartments  do  not  tread  on  its  turf.  But  industry insiders say  they have been appeased by a  tax break of  their own  that makes  them  less  likely  to baulk  at daily  rates  from their serviced-apartment competition. As  of  the  start  of  last  July,  the  government waived  the Hotel Accommodation Tax, a tax that all hotels had to pay on guest stays. The  tax  stood at 3 percent on hotel bills but has been slashed to zero by the Inland Revenue Department. That waiver covers both hotels and guesthouses. Some  longer-term tenants got a pleasant surprise as a result. Hotels  and  guesthouses,  including  serviced  apartments  that had been collecting the tax in advance, have had to refund it to tenants who paid in advance. “One client was renting long term and suddenly the rate went down,” Chu says. “If you had two figures on your bill – the room charge and the tax – then the tax got waived.” After the waiver of the Hotel Accommodation Tax, more serviced apartments have been  starting  to offer daily  rates. The Hong Kong Hotels Association did not respond to queries about the issue for this story. But serviced-apartment employees say their companies  have  been  keener  to  offer  daily  rates  now  hotels have been appeased by the waiver, and they are confident that the government will not crack down on the practice. Shama,  for  instance, has quietly started offering daily  rates at some of its serviced-apartment properties. But it declines to say what the rate is, and will only give it to corporate customers.The company, in August, opened its eighth serviced-apartment property  in  Hong  Kong,  with  Shama  Fortress  Hill.  So  it  now has  properties  in  the  city’s  most  popular  neighbourhoods: Causeway  Bay,  Central,  Mid-Levels,  Wanchai  and  Tsim  Sha Tsui.  It also has properties  in Shanghai and Beijing, bringing its current tally to 10, with plans to build out to 40 properties in Asia in 2010. The  government  has  not  always  taken  kindly  to  serviced-apartment  properties  that  offer  daily  rates.  For  instance,  the Hong Kong Parkview development had been offering a daily rate but  the government  told  them  to stop. Hong Kong Parkview’s sales office confirms that they used to offer a daily rate but have now stopped offering anything less than a 28-day stay because of government policy. The Home Affairs Department  says  the  issue  is  simply  about licensing  –  if  serviced  apartments  offer  accommodation  for a minimum period of 28  continuous days or  longer,  they  are exempt from having to get a hotel or guesthouse license. If anyproperty starts offering stays of less than 28 days in a row, they have to get a guesthouse license. But even  the serviced-apartment  companies with guesthouse licenses  had  not  always  chosen  to  offer  daily  rates.  If  they did offer  a  shorter  stay,  it was  typically only  to  their biggest customers or by special arrangement. “If you were a really big corporate tenant, then in a special case, they would do a daily rate, but for walk-in clients, they would not,” Chu confirms. In this economic downturn, many serviced-apartment operators are more willing to offer short stays to more people. It may still help to request the rate via your company rather than directly, but  you may  find  the  operator  is  keener  to  cooperate  if  you aren’t sure you want to stay for a full month. “It is not normally actually a daily rate, it is normally a minimum three days,” Chu says. Walk-ins may be welcome even if they don’t have a big company backing them. For instance, the Central 88 serviced-apartment property at 88 Des Voeux Road Central offers a rate of HK$1,188 per night for a 440 square-foot studio apartment, for a minimum stay of three nights. At  the  big  new  developments,  it’s  now  a  common  feature  to set aside a portion of the building for serviced apartments. The   HarbourView Place,  for  instance,  sits  in  the  same building  in West Kowloon as  the W Hotel. The whole development, built and managed by Sun Hung Kai Properties,  includes  the hotel and serviced apartments, as well as the private apartments up or sale in the two towers of the Cullinan. Hopewell Holdings has also joined the fray, with Hopewell Real Estate  Agency  unveiling  the GardenEast  serviced  apartments development  just  opposite  the  company’s  flagship,  the Hopewell Centre, in Wanchai. GardenEast,  too,  is  now  open  for  business,  with  an  initial aunch of 27 apartments ranging from 395 square foot for the smallest  studio up  to 672  square  foot  for an executive  suite. But Hopewell has chosen not to offer daily rates and said it had agreed terms on 90 percent of the units at prices ranging from HK$17,000 per month up to HK$27,500. The expanding  range of options  should mean  rates get more attractive  for  monthly  stays.  And  if  you  hunt  around,  those shorter stops are also possible, if you find a serviced apartment that is willing to cooperate. “If  they apply  for a hotel guesthouse  license  they can do  it, but  it  also  depends  on whether  they want  to  do  it  or  not,” concludes Chu.    Click here for local property listings