Newport News, VA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Section 45-517.1(a)(1) allows a short-term rental of a single-family or multiple-family dwelling unit only if two conditions are both met. First, under subsection 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.' Second, under subsection 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.' 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.

Multiple-family developments, defined in § 45-517.1(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. To prove primary residence at application, § 45-517.1(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).