High Point, NC Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

High Point regulates accessory residential uses through Chapter 4 of its Development Ordinance, available on Municode. Section 4.4.5.M (Renting of Rooms) provides that an occupant of the dwelling may rent rooms to a maximum of 2 tenants; the renting of rooms to more than 2 tenants constitutes a rooming house and is subject to other ordinance standards. This rooming-house threshold is the closest the city comes to a numeric occupancy cap on residential rentals and applies to room-by-room rentals where the host shares the dwelling. For whole-house short-term rentals, High Point has not adopted a stand-alone STR ordinance or a guest-count formula. After NCGS 160D-1207(c) was amended to limit local rental-registration schemes and after the North Carolina Court of Appeals decision in Schroeder v. City of Wilmington, 282 N.C. App. 558 (2022), NC cities cannot require owners to register a residential dwelling solely because it is rented short-term. Capacity is therefore controlled by general standards: the North Carolina State Building Code and NC Residential Code (administered locally by the City of High Point Inspections and Permits Department) establish minimum room size, egress, smoke alarm, and carbon monoxide alarm requirements for every sleeping room, and the city's minimum-housing program enforces fitness-for-habitation standards. Hosts must also collect and remit North Carolina sales tax through the NC Department of Revenue and Guilford County's room occupancy tax (currently 6 percent), and any private subdivision covenants, condominium declaration, or HOA architectural rules may impose stricter occupancy limits than the city.