Raleigh, NC Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Home occupations aren't a standalone zoning use in Raleigh -- they're an accessory use, governed first by the general accessory-use test in UDO Sec. 1 and then by the specific standards in Sec. 3. Sec. 1 requires every accessory use to be clearly incidental to and customarily found with an allowed principal building or use, subordinate to that principal use, subordinate in area, extent and purpose to the principal building, and located on the same lot as the principal use it serves; critically, no accessory use may be established on a lot before the principal use exists, so a home occupation cannot be the sole use of a vacant residential lot.

Because it rides on the residential principal use, a home occupation is potentially allowed anywhere a residential dwelling is an allowed principal use -- across Raleigh's Residential Districts and in dwellings located in Mixed Use Districts -- rather than being confined to a single zoning district. Once that threshold is met, Sec. 3 layers on the substantive use standards: the occupation must be conducted wholly within the residential dwelling, cannot exceed 25% of the dwelling's livable portion, may not employ any nonresident staff, cannot store or warehouse materials or equipment outdoors, must leave the building's exterior unchanged, must comply with the City's noise regulations, and may keep only one business-related vehicle under 6,000 pounds on the premises.