Fulton County, GA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

5 of the Fulton County Zoning Resolution governs guest houses, the county's term for a detached accessory dwelling unit built on the same lot as a single-family home, in Suburban A, B and C, R-1 through R-6, NUP, CUP, TR, A, A-L, AG-1, O-1 and MIX districts accessory to a single-family use. Standard B(1) permits only one guest house per lot, and restricts who can live in it: relatives, guests, or employees who work on the property, and none of them may pay rent for the space.

That single sentence is the operative restriction: it does not carve out an exception for short-term platforms such as Airbnb or VRBO, month-to-month leases, or a caretaker's cousin paying below-market rent, because the standard turns on whether any payment for rent changes hands, not on the lease term or platform used. This rule applies only in unincorporated Fulton County; it does not reach Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hills or South Fulton, each of which regulates accessory dwelling occupancy and short-term rentals under its own zoning code.

Because the restriction sits in the zoning standards for the guest house use itself rather than in a separate short-term rental licensing ordinance, a homeowner who rents out a guest house is not just risking a licensing citation: they are operating an accessory structure outside the use category it was permitted under, which the Department of Environment and Community Development treats as a zoning use violation rather than a paperwork lapse.