Short-term rental permit rules in Howard County, MD — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
Howard County has no dedicated short-term-rental permit. Under the Zoning Regulations, renting sleeping accommodations to transient guests on a daily or weekly basis is a Hotel or Motel use, which is only allowed in commercial and mixed-use zoning districts — not by right in residential neighborhoods.
Unlike Montgomery County or Baltimore City, Howard County (which governs unincorporated Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge and the rest of the county) has not adopted a short-term-rental licensing program. Instead, the use is controlled through zoning. Section 103.0 of the Zoning Regulations defines a 'Hotel or Motel' as any building containing guest rooms in which lodging is provided to transient guests on a daily, weekly, or similar short-term basis — a use permitted only in districts that allow lodging establishments. A whole-house Airbnb or Vrbo in a residential district therefore operates as an unlisted (and generally not-permitted) transient-lodging use. The narrow residential exception is a Bed and Breakfast Inn, limited to historic buildings or farms under agricultural preservation easement.
Operating a transient-lodging use in a district where it is not permitted is a zoning violation enforced by the Department of Planning and Zoning and Title 24 civil penalties; the County may issue notices to cease and abate.
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See how Howard County's permit requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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