Lakewood, CA Short-Term Rentals: Extended Home Share (2026)

Lakewood Municipal Code § 9320(F)(1)(d) classifies renting rooms in a single-family residence as a permitted accessory use in the R-1 zone, but only in the long-term category alongside whole-home and ADU/JADU rentals. The section caps home-share at not more than two rooms rented to not more than two roomers, and/or table board provided to not more than two boarders, and requires the arrangement run 31 days or longer. This sits inside the same zoning subsection, § 9320(F), that separately governs whole-home long-term rentals, ADU rentals and JADU rentals, all of which share the 31-day-or-more floor added by Ordinance 2018-7 and amended by Ordinance 2023-6.

Because Lakewood's short-term rental rules in § 9320(F)(2) flatly disallow any dwelling rental under 31 days, a home-share arrangement that dips below that threshold, even briefly, converts the property into an unlawful short-term rental rather than a permitted home-share. The City's contract-city structure means zoning compliance for home-share arrangements is handled by the Community Development Department, while any nuisance or noise complaints tied to roomers are referred to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which Lakewood contracts with for police service rather than maintaining its own department.