Newark, NJ Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

Section 41:6-2-1, item 5 of Newark's conditional-use standards for Accessory Dwelling Units states that an ADU shall not be used for short-term rental and sets the minimum lease duration at six months. The rule was adopted with the rest of the city's 2023 zoning overhaul, Ord. No. 6PSF-E (11-1-2023), which legalized ADUs on qualifying lots for the first time while attaching guardrails meant to keep the units as housing stock rather than nightly rentals. The restriction applies regardless of whether the ADU is the detached structure or the principal dwelling being rented out, since item 7 of the same section requires common ownership of the principal dwelling and ADU together and lets the owner occupy either one.

Combined, the two provisions mean an owner can rent the second unit long-term while living in the other, but cannot list either as a weekly or nightly short-term rental. An ADU must also sit on a lot of at least 5,000 square feet, provide one off-street parking space, and stay under the 600-square-foot size cap set elsewhere in Section 41:6-2-1. Compliance with the lease-term rule is a condition of the conditional-use approval the Central Planning Board grants under Section 41:6-1, so a property found renting an ADU short-term is out of compliance with its own zoning approval, not just a separate licensing rule.

The city's short-term rental restrictions elsewhere in the code reinforce that ADUs are treated as long-term housing, not as transient lodging inventory, consistent with Newark's broader push to preserve affordable rental units created under the ADU program.