Fairfax County, VA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

H(1) starts with who and where. The home-based business must be conducted by the person to whom the permit is issued, and it must be located within the dwelling that is that person's primary residence or in an accessory structure on the same lot. Both halves matter: a business run by someone other than the permit holder falls outside the permit, and so does a business run from a house the holder does not actually occupy as a primary residence. The accessory-structure option keeps a detached building on the table, but only on the same lot as the residence itself.

Subsection (10) then locks the permit down. It is valid for the original applicant only and is not transferable to any other resident, address, or occupation. Each of those closes a different door: a new resident of the same house cannot inherit the permit, the holder cannot carry it to a new address, and the holder cannot switch it to a different occupation than the one permitted. Finally, the section builds in an automatic expiration. Upon termination of the applicant's residency, the home-based business permit becomes null and void, so a holder who moves and wants to keep operating must obtain a new permit tied to the new primary residence.