Hanover County, VA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

1(2)(c). Both provisions use the same formula: count the bedrooms in the dwelling or structure, double that number, and that is the ceiling, unless the on-site septic system's permitted capacity is lower or ten occupants is lower, whichever cap binds first. A four-bedroom house tops out at eight guests; a six-bedroom house is capped at ten because the flat ten-occupant ceiling controls once the bedroom formula would otherwise exceed it. The Hanover County Planning Department administers short-term rental compliance countywide outside the Town of Ashland, which regulates its own limits separately.

Property owners must already have certified their short-term rental with the planning director before renting, and the occupancy cap is one of the standing conditions of that use, alongside the parking, noise-posting, and safety-equipment requirements found in the same section. Because the county treats occupancy as a permit condition rather than a separate license, a property that habitually exceeds the cap risks the same civil-penalty process used for any other zoning violation: a summons or ticket issued by the zoning administrator under § 26-348, with penalties escalating for repeated violations arising from the same set of facts.