Berkeley, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

314: 'Host Present or Host Presence' means the host is living in the host residence during the short-term rental period. Berkeley extends this to properties with an accessory dwelling unit or accessory building: if the parcel has a single primary unit plus one or more authorized ADUs or accessory buildings, the host counts as present as long as they are in any unit on that parcel, not necessarily the unit being rented. 050(B). Subsection B(1) states that when the host is present, the short-term rental is allowed for an unlimited number of days during the calendar year, with no annual cap.

050(A) requires an owner-host to give the Planning and Development Department documentation of owner-host and host-residence status and, where relevant, host presence, while a tenant-host must supply lease proof, host-residence proof, host-presence proof, and written authorization from the building owner allowing a short-term rental. Because the presence definition reaches to any unit on a multi-unit parcel, a host living in the main house can rent out a permitted accessory building or pre-2017 ADU as a 'hosted' unit without triggering the 90-day cap that applies when no host is on site at all.