Newark, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Under Chapter 18:14 of Newark's Revised General Ordinances, a short-term rental (STR) is allowed inside an owner-occupied single-family home only in a limited form: the owner may rent "no more than two rooms within a single-family residential dwelling unit," and those rooms must share common kitchen and bathroom facilities with the owner, who must continue to occupy the remainder of the unit as a principal residence. Section 18:14-2c makes the flip side explicit: renting out "three or more individual rooms within a single-family dwelling" is one of the property types where short-term rental is expressly prohibited, regardless of owner occupancy.

This room-count ceiling functions as Newark's occupancy control for room-share STRs, distinct from the separate rules for whole condo units, single-family homes, two-family units and multi-family units, each of which requires the owner to occupy and claim a companion unit as a principal residence. The Department of Engineering administers STR permits under this chapter, and any STR operated outside these classifications, including a three-plus-room boardinghouse-style rental, is unlawful under Section 18:14-2a regardless of whether a permit was sought. The rule was enacted by Ordinance 6PSF-B on September 5, 2019, and the chapter was subsequently amended December 20, 2023 by Ordinance 6PSF-G to add booking-service verification duties, but the room-count limits in Section 18:14-2 were not altered by that amendment.