Piscataway, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Piscataway Township Code § 15-3.b lists the property classifications where a Short-Term Rental is allowed, and paragraph 5 covers the shared-room scenario: no more than one room within a single-family residential dwelling unit may be rented short-term, and only where that room shares common kitchen and bathroom facilities with the occupant of the dwelling, and the remainder of the unit is occupied by the owner and legally identified by the owner as his or her principal residence. Section 15-3.c mirrors this as a prohibition: a room or multiple rooms sharing common kitchen and bathroom facilities in a single-family, two-family, or multi-family dwelling is barred from short-term rental whenever the occupant of the remaining space is neither the owner nor identifies that remaining space as a principal residence.

In practice, Piscataway will not permit a landlord who does not live in the property to rent out a spare bedroom short-term, even if the tenant living there consents; the owner must be the one physically present and must have a driver's license or state ID showing that address, per the principal residence definition in § 15-2. A Short-Term Rental Permit application under § 15-4 requires a copy of that ID to confirm the address is the owner's principal residence before the Department of Planning and Engineering will issue a permit.