Chelsea, MA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Section 6-5 permits a short-term rental, defined as renting a residential unit for fewer than 30 consecutive days for a fee, only in two configurations: a 'limited share unit,' the operator's own owner-occupied home with one bedroom reserved for the operator and up to three bedrooms rented while the operator is present, or an 'owner-adjacent unit,' a separate unit within an owner-occupied two- or three-family building that must be rented as a whole to a single party rather than by separate bedrooms. Within either configuration, section 6-5(c)(2) limits occupancy to two persons per bedroom, though children under 12 who are related to, or the legal ward of, a counted bedroom occupant are excluded from that count.

Units that do not meet the limited-share or owner-adjacent definitions cannot be listed at all, and neither can units that are income-restricted, subject to affordability covenants or housing assistance, or that carry three or more findings of violations of the short-term rental section, or three or more violations for noise, trash, disorderly conduct or similar conduct, within a one-year period. A unit previously rented to a Section 8 voucher holder or subject to an affordability restriction is ineligible until one year has passed since that restriction or tenancy ended.