HOUSTON – The City of Houston has approved a new ordinance placing regulations on short-term rentals, like Airbnb’s and Vrbo properties, within city limits.
The Houston City Council approved the ordinance on Wednesday.
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A short-term rental (STR) is a home or part of a house rented out for less than 30 days. This does not include hotels, bed and breakfasts, or group homes.
The ordinance allows the city to enforce regulations at STRs such as noise and sound regulations, payment of hotel occupancy taxes, building and fire code violations, and criminal offenses. The ordinance also requires registrants to display a 24-hour emergency contact number, prohibits STRs from advertising as event spaces, and requires applicants to submit proof of completion for human trafficking awareness training.
The city will begin accepting registration applications for STR’s on Aug. 1.
“Until August 1, the City’s STR webpage will be under development. Once complete, the webpage will offer a suite of STR modules including a registration portal, interactive map, a list of approved STRs, and a 24-hour hotline to allow the public to report complaints or concerns about a specific STR, or an STR property operating without a City of Houston certificate of registration. In-person assistance with registration will also be available at the Houston Permitting Center. The annual registration fee is $275 per rental property,” the city said.
Public complaints reported to the 24-hotline will be routed to the appropriate City of Houston Department for further action or enforcement activity. For example, noise complaints will be routed to the Houston Police Department, trash violations to Solid Waste Management, dangerous building complaints to Houston Public Works, and fire code violations to the Houston Fire Department. The City may revoke a certificate of registration for non-compliance with City code or excessive nuisance violations.
Short-term rental hosts will have until January 1, 2026, to come into compliance before enforcement of the ordinance begins. Operating without a certificate of registration can result in a fine between $100 - $500 for each day of the violation. In addition, the ordinance requires STR platforms, such as Airbnb and VRBO, to remove listings for non-compliant STRs within 10 days of notification by the city.