# Short-term rental rules in Austin, TX - Status: **REGULATED** - Last checked: 2026-09-05 (claims cite official sources; items we could not verify are listed below) - Canonical page: https://strwatch.ai/austin-tx/ ## Summary Austin defines short-term rentals as housing rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days and allows them in full- and limited-purpose Austin with an operator's license. STRs are an accessory use to residential uses in all zoning districts. Operators may own or lease the unit; an individual may operate up to two STR units on a site of three or fewer units, with additional sites at least 1,000 feet apart, while sites with four or more units allow the greater of one unit or 25% of the units the operator owns or leases if the site includes commercial use, or the greater of one unit or 10% without commercial use. Qualifying licenses valid September 30, 2025 have renewal-based eligibility protections. Current posted fees are $836.30 new and $385.30 renewal; licenses last up to two years and are non-transferable. A local contact in the five-county Austin metro must respond within two hours. Platforms collect Austin hotel occupancy tax; effective July 1, 2026 they must require license numbers and remove an unlicensed listing within 10 days of a City notice. Chapter 4-23 violations are daily offenses punishable by up to $500 without proof of culpable mental state. ## At a glance - Unhosted whole-home rental: Conditional - Hosted rental (host present): Conditional - Primary residence required: No - Guest cap: none verified - Rules apply to stays under: 30 days Notes: The current city program page allows hosted and unhosted STRs as an accessory use to residential uses in all zoning districts, conditional on licensing, within Austin's full- and limited-purpose jurisdictions. It states tenants may operate with landlord permission; an individual may operate up to two STR units on a small site, with additional sites at least 1,000 feet apart; and the larger-site caps are the greater of one unit or 25% for mixed-use sites and 10% for multifamily residential sites. It defines STRs as residences rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days and lists noise limits of 75 dB at the property line from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., no amplified sound audible beyond the property line from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., and no noise audible to an adjacent business or residence from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. No citywide numeric guest cap was established by the sources fetched in this audit. Private HOA, deed, or lease restrictions were not independently researched. Austin city hotel tax applies only in the full-purpose jurisdiction; limited-purpose properties still require an STR license, while ETJ properties require neither the city STR license nor city HOT under the current city program guidance. Section 4-23-31 treats qualifying all-individual trusts and LLCs as individuals and applies spacing across those entities. Part 3 protects licenses valid September 30, 2025 from new eligibility requirements if renewed at least 30 days before expiry; failure to renew an existing or subsequent license, or revocation, ends protection. The STR definition excludes short extensions of existing 30-day-or-longer agreements and rentals between the parties to a sale of that housing unit. ## Requirements ### STR Operator's License (license) - Authority: City of Austin Development Services Department (Code Compliance) - Cost: $836.30 new ($789 license fee + $47.30 notification fee, FY2026) - Renewal: Valid for a maximum of two years under Section 4-23-32(C); renewal may be submitted within 60 days before expiration. Current posted renewal fee: $385.30 ($338 renewal fee plus $47.30 notification fee). A one-time 30-day extension is discretionary. Protected September 30, 2025 licenses must renew at least 30 days before expiry under Part 3. - Official source: https://www.austintexas.gov/development-services/short-term-rentals - Notes: Required before operating or advertising; one license per unit; non-transferable; license number required in advertisements. Application includes a safety self-certification checklist, platform and local-contact information, and owner authorization for lessee applicants. The director may require a third-party safety inspection where the unit had a state-law or City Code violation in the prior 24 months. The city page says a Certificate of Occupancy and proof of insurance are no longer required. Fees are non-refundable. Current application instructions require government ID, tenancy proof if applicable and notarized owner authorization for non-owner applicants. Section 4-23-41 also requires lessee utility-payment proof. Section 4-23-34(B) requires information updates within five days; city guidance says three business days for local-contact changes, an unresolved discrepancy. ### Local contact designation (other) - Authority: City of Austin Development Services Department (City Code §4-23-33) - Cost: not verified - Official source: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=459690 - Notes: Every operator must designate an individual local contact present within Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, or Caldwell County, authorized to make decisions and resolve emergencies. The contact must respond within two hours and be present at the STR within two hours if requested by a City employee. The operator may serve as contact. The City notifies properties within 100 feet. ### City Hotel Occupancy Tax reporting (Austin Finance Online account) (registration) - Authority: City of Austin Financial Services - Cost: not verified - Renewal: Quarterly reports due the last day of the month following each quarter (Apr 30, Jul 31, Oct 31, Jan 31); next business day if a weekend or holiday - Official source: https://www.austintexas.gov/page/hotel-occupancy-taxes - Notes: Operators must file quarterly HOT reports even though platforms have been required to collect and remit city HOT on bookings since April 1, 2025, and even for zero-activity quarters. Operators using a platform must report how much HOT each platform collected on their behalf. Proof of HOT payment is required at license renewal for operators not using a platform to collect payments (§4-23-42(A)(4)). City taxable charges include cleaning, reservation and pet-related fees. Retain reports and exemption documentation; receipts must disclose the separate 2% venue-project tax as described on the tax page. ### State Hotel Occupancy Tax collection/remittance (other) - Authority: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (Tax Code Ch. 156) - Cost: not verified - Renewal: Monthly (due the 20th of the following month) or quarterly if qualified - Official source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/hotel/ - Notes: The 6% state HOT applies to residential STRs (houses, condos, apartments) costing $15 or more per day. A platform collects and remits state HOT only if it has an agreement with the owner to do so; otherwise the owner must collect and remit directly to the Comptroller (Comptroller Hotel Tax FAQ). State HOT is remitted separately from city HOT. Direct/non-collecting-platform operators use the Comptroller account process (Form AP-102); exclusively collecting-platform hosts need not collect/remit state HOT themselves. Permanent-resident exemption requires at least 30 consecutive days: prior written notice allows exemption from notification, while without notice the first 30 days remain taxable. Interruption defeats exemption. ### Guest information and operating standards (other) - Authority: City of Austin (§§4-23-34 and 4-23-41) - Cost: not verified - Official source: https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=459690 - Notes: Provide every guest the City information packet and fire-extinguisher locations. The packet covers local contact, noise, parking, trash collection, burn bans, water restrictions and applicable accessibility requirements; city guidance requires a conspicuous common-area copy. Partial-unit rentals must provide exclusive use of a bedroom and shared use of a full bathroom. Units must be habitable and operators must implement imposed mitigation requirements. Noise limits are stated in the legality notes; address-specific parking and building-code requirements remain to be checked. ## Taxes - **Texas State Hotel Occupancy Tax**: 6% — applies to Taxable sleeping accommodations costing $15 or more per day, including houses, condos and apartments. Permanent-resident exemption requires at least 30 consecutive days; prior written notice governs when exemption begins, so the first 30 days may remain taxable without notice.; platform collects: not verified. Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/hotel/ - **City of Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax**: 11% (9% occupancy tax + 2% venue project tax) — applies to Taxable lodging within Austin's full-purpose jurisdiction. STRs in the limited-purpose jurisdiction and extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) are not subject to City of Austin HOT. Licensing still applies in the limited-purpose jurisdiction. Includes amounts for use, cleaning and readying the room, subject to exemptions.; platform collects: yes. Source: https://www.austintexas.gov/page/hotel-occupancy-taxes ## Enforcement - Penalties: City Code Chapter 4-23 makes each day a separate offense, punishable by a fine up to $500 without proof of a culpable mental state. The director may revoke for life/health/safety threats, nuisance status, failure to follow mitigation or compliance plans, local-contact nonresponse, or erroneous issuance, with notice and a pre-revocation conference except in specified cases. New-license disqualification periods are six months after ordinary revocation and twelve months for a nuisance property or its operator, subject to the ordinance's exceptions. Written appeals are due within 10 days of the director’s action; while revocation, renewal-denial or nuisance appeals are pending, pre-existing bookings may be honored but no new bookings accepted (§4-23-3). City HOT late penalties are 5%, another 5% on day 61, and 10% annual interest beginning day 61. - Platform liability: Effective July 1, 2026, platforms must require license numbers in Austin STR advertisements, remove a listing within 10 days after a compliant City delist notice, provide users at least quarterly documentation of hotel taxes collected, and may not accept a booking fee for an unlicensed STR. Compliance with the license-field and delisting sections creates a presumption of compliance with the fee prohibition. The city page separately confirms mandatory platform collection and remittance of Austin HOT. - Notes: The current city page directs complaints to Austin 3-1-1, states that the city began requesting removal of unlicensed properties from platforms July 1, 2026, and allows continued rental while a complete paid renewal is queued. The April 30, 2026 DSD memo reports enforcement activity and program statistics. ## Proposals and updates on record Statuses reflect the record review date. Dates may have passed; check linked sources for current status. - An April 30, 2026 staff memo discussed possible STR fee reductions through the FY2027 budget and recommended against a provisional license. Subsequent budget disposition was not verified; this is a dated watch item, not an enacted fee change. (Proposed, FY2027 budget process) — https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=472516 ## Unresolved research items - The Zaatari opinion and current case-specific enforcement effects were not verified from an official court source; no holding is asserted here. - No numeric guest/occupancy cap appears anywhere in the replaced Chapter 4-23 (full 18-page executed ordinance reviewed), so max_guests is null; confirm no generally applicable occupancy limit elsewhere in the Property Maintenance Code applies to STRs. - Codified City Code text on library.municode.com could not be fetched (HTTP 403); this profile relies on the executed ordinance PDF (Ord. 20250911-012). Confirm Municode codification matches, including any renumbering. - Whether a specific platform (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) collects the 6% STATE hotel tax for a given Austin host depends on that platform's agreement with the owner (Comptroller FAQ); collectedByPlatform for the state tax is therefore null — hosts must confirm per platform and remit directly if not collected. - HB 2767 (89R) official history ends at Calendars on April 25, 2025 without enactment. That single bill does not establish absence of other state preemption; broader current-law and special-session effects remain unresolved. - Current state preemption and related litigation, including any Texas Regulatory Consistency Act effects, remain unresolved; no conclusion about those effects is asserted. - Directly read city program text confirms no Austin license or Austin HOT in the ETJ, and licensing without Austin HOT in limited-purpose areas. An address-specific jurisdiction lookup remains necessary. - New-license fee of $836.30 reflects the FY2026 fee schedule ($789 + $47.30); the fee is set by separate ordinance annually and may change in the FY2027 budget. - City program has stale annual/one-year wording alongside explicit October 2025 two-year changes and renewal guidance. The executed ordinance permits a maximum two-year term; confirm the expiry on the license. - Local-contact update deadline conflicts: city guidance says three business days, executed law five days for application-information updates. Confirm with the City. - HOA, deed, lease, property-specific parking and general building/occupancy requirements were not established for any individual property. ## Sources - Short-Term Rentals — Austin Development Services (license, fees, operating rules) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://www.austintexas.gov/development-services/short-term-rentals - Short-Term Rentals hub — City of Austin (austintexas.gov/str) (official, accessed 2026-07-15): https://www.austintexas.gov/str - Ordinance No. 20250911-012 — repealing and replacing City Code Chapter 4-23 (Short-Term Rentals), executed PDF (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=459690 - Austin City Council Regular Meeting agenda, Sept. 11, 2025 (Item 12, STR ordinance) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://www.austintexas.gov/council/2025/20250911-reg - DSD Memorandum to Mayor and Council, 'Update on Short-term Rental Program,' April 30, 2026 (ordinance history 20250227-039/-040/-041 and 20250911-012, FY2026 fee schedule, enforcement stats, delisting phase-in) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=472516 - Hotel Occupancy Taxes — City of Austin Financial Services (11% city rate, April 1 2025 platform collection, quarterly filing, late penalties) (official, accessed 2026-07-15): https://www.austintexas.gov/page/hotel-occupancy-taxes - Hotel Occupancy Tax — Texas Comptroller (6% state rate, applicability to houses/condos, Tax Code Ch. 156) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/hotel/ - Hotel Occupancy Tax FAQs — Texas Comptroller (STR platform collection only under agreement with owner) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/hotel/faq.php - Apply for a short-term rental license — City of Austin Services (STR = rentals under 30 consecutive days) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://www.austintexas.gov/services/apply-short-term-rental-license - Texas Legislature Online — HB 2767 (89R) bill history: 'Relating to regulation of online global marketplaces' (last action: sent to Calendars 04/25/2025; never passed) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB2767 - Council OKs new rules for short-term rentals — Austin Monitor (discovery/context for Sept. 2025 changes) (news, accessed 2026-09-04): https://austinmonitor.com/stories/2025/09/council-oks-new-rules-for-short-term-rentals/ --- Educational information, not legal advice. Published by STRWatch (Laniakea Technologies LLC).