Houston City Council Approves Short-Term Rental Regulations

Houstonians will soon have a new tool to track short-term rentals (STR)s and address concerns about properties in their neighborhood. On Wednesday, April 16, 2025, the Houston City Council approved an ordinance that creates a registration-based framework for the regulation of STRs. An STR, as defined by the ordinance, is a dwelling unit or any portion of a dwelling unit that is rented out or offered to be rented out for a period of less than 30 consecutive days, with a few exceptions.
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.

Beginning August 1, 2025, the City will begin accepting registration applications online at https://houstontx.gov/ara/str.html. 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.

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.