Short-term rental permit rules in Apex, NC — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
The Town of Apex does not have a short-term-rental-specific permit program. There is no Apex STR ordinance in the Apex Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) or Code of Ordinances that requires an Airbnb, VRBO, or whole-house vacation rental operator to apply for a town-issued STR permit before listing or hosting paid guests. Apex's lack of an STR permit program is reinforced by North Carolina General Statute 160D-1207(c), which broadly preempts NC cities and towns from requiring a permit to lease or rent residential real property or from requiring rental property registration, except for individual properties with 4+ verified Article 11/12 violations in a rolling 12-month period or 2+ verified violations in a rolling 30-day period (or top 10% crime/disorder properties). Apex hosts must still comply with the UDO's underlying zoning use rules, the Apex housing code (Chapter 5, Article VII), state and county lodging taxes, and any private HOA covenants, which often restrict short-term rentals more strictly than the town.
The Town of Apex's primary land-use regulation is the Apex Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), adopted August 1, 2000, which replaced original Code Chapters 19 (Subdivisions) and 22 (Zoning). The UDO does not codify a stand-alone short-term-rental use category with a town-issued STR permit program; instead, residential dwellings in residential zoning districts are regulated under their existing residential use designation, and a vacation-style rental of an entire dwelling is treated as a residential use whose lease length is not regulated by the town. The UDO's home occupation rules in Section 4.5.5 govern in-home businesses but do not function as an STR permit framework - home occupation is limited to no more than 25% of the dwelling's floor area or 500 sq ft (whichever is less), with the activity 'clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use,' and bans 'specialized service' instruction such as dance, crafts, or music lessons. The home occupation permit (a $50 fee filed with the Apex Planning Department at planninginfo@apexnc.org / 919-249-6627) is not the same as an STR permit and is generally not the operative approval for a whole-house vacation rental. Apex's regulatory restraint on the STR side reflects the strong state-law preemption in NC G.S. 160D-1207(c), enacted as part of the 2021 consolidation of NC zoning, planning, and development law into Chapter 160D. Subsection (c) prohibits NC local governments from requiring any owner or manager of residential rental property to obtain a permit or permission to lease the property, or to register the property with the local government, except for individual properties with a documented history of more than four verified Article 11 (Building Code Enforcement) or Article 12 (Minimum Housing Codes) violations in a rolling 12-month period, or two or more verified violations in a rolling 30-day period, or properties identified within the top 10% of crime or disorder properties (so-called 'chronic-violator' registration). The NC Court of Appeals applied 160D-1207(c) broadly in Schroeder v. City of Wilmington (2022), striking down Wilmington's whole-house STR registration program and the cap/separation/amortization provisions that were 'so intertwined' with the invalid registration as to be preempted with it. Apex has not enacted a Schroeder-style registration program. Apex hosts therefore generally do not need a town STR permit, but must still: (1) comply with the underlying zoning use rules of the dwelling's zoning district (residential use must remain residential in character); (2) comply with Apex's Housing Code in Code of Ordinances Chapter 5, Article VII (basic habitability, smoke alarms, sanitary conditions); (3) register with the Wake County Tax Administration for the 6% Wake County Room Occupancy Tax and remit it monthly; (4) register with the North Carolina Department of Revenue for the 4.75% state sales tax + 2% Wake County local sales tax (combined 6.75% state and local sales tax) on accommodations; and (5) comply with any private HOA covenants, which in many Apex subdivisions (Beaver Creek Commons, Bella Casa, Haddon Hall, Sweetwater) impose minimum-lease-term covenants (often 6 or 12 months) that effectively prohibit short-term rental regardless of what the town allows.
Because Apex does not have a stand-alone STR permit program, there is no 'operating without an STR permit' violation for hosts to be cited for at the town level. Hosts who fall into one of the narrow 160D-1207(c) exceptions (4+ verified Article 11/12 violations in 12 months or 2+ in 30 days) may be subject to a chronic-violator registration if Apex chooses to adopt one, with the registration fee capped by state law at $500 in any 12-month period and no criminal penalty. Zoning use violations (operating in a way that converts the residential dwelling to a de facto commercial overnight accommodation outside the residential use envelope - e.g., hosting weddings, concerts, daily commercial events at the property) are enforceable under the Apex UDO by the Apex Planning Department through standard zoning enforcement. Housing Code violations under Code of Ordinances Chapter 5, Article VII (missing smoke alarms, sanitation, occupancy density, structural defects) are enforceable by the Apex Code Enforcement / Inspections staff with notice-and-cure procedures and Article 11/12 verified-violation tracking. Failure to register with the Wake County Tax Administration or to remit the 6% room occupancy tax is enforceable by Wake County with interest, penalties, and collection action. Failure to register for or remit the 4.75% NC state sales tax or 2% Wake County local sales tax on accommodations is enforceable by the NC Department of Revenue under Chapter 105 with state-level interest and penalties. HOA covenant violations are enforced privately by the HOA and not by the town.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Apex, NC
Apex does not have a code provision specifically prohibiting or permitting artificial turf in residential or commercial landscapes. Where landscape material ...
Apex, NC
Apex does not mandate native plants in private landscapes but actively promotes them. The Town's Plant the Peak program installs native trees on residential ...
Apex, NC
Rainwater harvesting is legal and encouraged in Apex. North Carolina state law prohibits local governments from banning cisterns and rain barrels used for ir...
Apex, NC
Apex UDO Sec. 4.5.6 permits one Accessory Apartment per single-family lot. Attached accessory apartments have no size limit. Detached accessory apartments ar...
Apex, NC
Apex Town Code Sec. 13-62 limits Mobile Food Vendors to (a) private property with written owner permission, (b) Town-owned property with the Town Manager's w...
Apex, NC
Apex Town Code Chapter 13, Article IV (Sec. 13-60 through 13-69.5), adopted by Ordinance 2019-0305-02, requires every Mobile Food Vendor and Transient Food V...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Wake County.
See how other cities in Wake County handle permit requirements.
See how Apex's permit requirements rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.