New Britain, CT Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

New Britain adopted its short-term rental permit chain at Zoning Ordinance Section 270-40-40.300 on December 18, 2024 (Item #36551-3), and it runs in two distinct steps rather than a single license. Section 270-40-40.300.10 bars any property from operating as a short-term rental until the owner secures a special exception, the same discretionary approval the Zoning Board of Appeals uses for other conditional uses citywide. That special exception does not itself authorize renting; Section 270-40-40.300.10.10 requires the operator to separately obtain a zoning permit one year after the special exception is approved, and that zoning permit expires after one year and must be renewed annually, so a short-term rental host faces recurring paperwork even after clearing the initial hurdle.

Renewal is not automatic. Section 270-40-40.300.10.20 lets the Zoning Enforcement Officer revoke an issued permit on information that the rental has become a neighborhood nuisance, and it cross-references two enforcement tools elsewhere in the code: Code of Ordinances Section 7-42's definition of blighted premises, and Section 20-80's fee for excessive responses by city departments, meaning a host who racks up repeated police or code-enforcement calls can be billed for those responses on top of losing the permit. Section 270-40-40.300.10.30 spares a renewing host from a second special exception hearing unless there has been a significant change, such as a new owner or property manager, a different number of consecutive rental days, a prior revocation for nuisance, or an expansion of the operation.

The permit also caps occupancy at six adults plus their dependent children under Section 270-40-40.300.30 and requires one off-street parking space per rented room under Section 270-40-40.300.80.