Newport News, VA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)
Key Facts
- Residency requirement
- 185+ days per year as primary residence
- Lodging space
- must be in the main building only
- Detached accessory buildings
- not eligible for STR lodging
- Proof accepted
- driver's license or voter registration
- Verification
- zoning administrator may inspect on notice
- Revocation reapplication bar
- 2 years
Summary
A Newport News short-term rental only qualifies if the property owner actually lives there as a primary residence at least 185 days a year. City Code § 45-517.1(a)(1)a-b further requires the dwelling unit and any bedrooms rented to overnight lodgers to sit inside the same main building the owner occupies, not in a detached accessory structure, so absentee or garage-apartment rentals do not qualify.
a.The dwelling unit is used by the property owner as his/her primary residence, which means that he/she resides there for at least one hundred eighty-five (185) days during each year;b.The dwelling unit and any bedroom(s) rented to overnight lodgers shall be within the main building of the dwelling unit that the owner occupies as his/her primary residence and shall not be in a detached accessory building;
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 81).
Full Breakdown
1(a)(1) allows a short-term rental of a single-family or multiple-family dwelling unit only if two conditions are both met. ' Together the two rules mean an owner who does not actually live in the house for more than half the year cannot register it as a short-term rental, and an owner who does live there cannot get around the occupancy caps by also renting out a separate garage apartment or accessory dwelling unit as an additional short-term rental. 1(a)(2) as buildings with more than two units in common ownership, follow a separate track: the owner may rent whole units rather than bedrooms, capped at 10 percent of the development's total units.
1(c)(1)a accepts a driver's license or voter registration card showing the property address, or other equivalent proof the department of planning approves, and the zoning administrator may re-verify residency during a complaint investigation by entering the dwelling on reasonable advance notice under § 45-3501(a).
Violations & Fines
Renting out a unit where the owner does not meet the 185-day residency requirement, or renting a detached accessory building as part of the primary lodging, is grounds to deny or revoke the certificate of zoning compliance under § 45-517.1(c)(6)b, which bars reapplication for two years. Refusing to let the zoning administrator verify residency during a complaint investigation is itself an independent ground for revocation under § 45-517.1(c)(6)c.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to live in my Newport News short-term rental to operate it?
Can I rent out a detached garage apartment as a Newport News short-term rental?
How does the city verify an owner actually lives at the short-term rental?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Newport News
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