Wilmington, NC Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 16-266 opens with a blanket bar: "No person shall occupy as owner-occupant or let or sublet to another for occupancy any dwelling or dwelling unit... nor shall any vacant dwelling be permitted to exist" unless it meets the listed equipment standards. Every dwelling unit must contain "not less than a kitchen sink, lavatory, tub or shower, and a water closet, all in good working condition and properly connected to an approved water and sewer system," with the bathroom fixtures located in a room affording privacy that has at least thirty square feet of floor space. Every unit must have both hot and cold water connected to the kitchen sink, lavatory and tub or shower, supplied through an approved pipe system connected to a potable source.

Heating facilities must be "capable of safely and adequately heating all habitable rooms, bathrooms and water closet compartments... to a temperature of at least sixty-eight (68) degrees Fahrenheit at a distance three (3) feet above the floor during ordinary minimum winter conditions," and where no central system is installed, the unit must have fireplaces, chimneys, flues or gas vents sufficient to reach the same 68-degree standard safely. Cooking and heating equipment must be installed to the applicable building, gas or electrical code, and every unit needs an approved garbage disposal facility. Sections 16-267 through 16-271 add related minimums: at least 8 percent of a habitable room's floor area in window light, two safe means of egress with 7-foot ceiling clearance, and 150 square feet of floor space for a first occupant plus 100 more per additional occupant.