Short-term rental permit rules in Knox County, TN — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
Unincorporated Knox County has no short-term rental permit ordinance. You do not need a county STR permit to operate an Airbnb or Vrbo outside city limits. Only the City of Knoxville requires an STR permit.
Knox County has not adopted a short-term rental permitting program for the unincorporated area. County officials publicly discussed creating STR rules (a commissioner asked Planning and Codes Administration to draft regulations), but no permit ordinance is in effect. Operators outside Knoxville and Farragut therefore need no county-issued STR permit. Inside the City of Knoxville, a separate STR permit is mandatory before advertising or operating. Tennessee's Short-Term Rental Unit Act (TCA 13-7-602 et seq.) lets local governments require permits but protects units already operating before any new rule takes effect ('legacy' units).
No county STR permit penalty exists in the unincorporated area. City of Knoxville operators face separate city enforcement for operating without a city permit.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Knox County has no ordinance regulating artificial turf on residential property. Synthetic lawns are neither required nor banned; large installations should ...
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Knox County treats vines, grass, weeds and other vegetation that reaches 12 inches or more as a presumed public nuisance on residential property. Owners must...
See how Knox County's permit requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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