Reading, PA Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

Reading is a Third-Class City and its municipal code is hosted on eCode360 (ecode360.com/RE1294). The city has not enacted a dedicated short-term rental chapter, so Airbnb, VRBO, and similar listings fall under three overlapping local frameworks. First, anyone renting residential property in Reading - including short-term hosts - must hold a Landlord Business Privilege License (LBPL) and an Itinerant Business Privilege License if the activity is non-permanent, both issued by the City Treasurer. Second, Reading's Property and Codes Enforcement department applies the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC, adopted city-wide) and runs a systematic rental inspection program; STR units must pass habitability inspection. Third, Reading's Zoning Ordinance treats transient lodging as a use that is permitted only in specific districts - residential R-1 and R-2 zones generally do not allow tourist or transient occupancy without a special-exception use approval. Pennsylvania has not preempted local STR regulation (unlike Florida or Arizona), and recent PA appellate decisions (Slice of Life v. Hamilton Twp. ZHB, 207 A.3d 886 (Pa. 2019)) have held that short-term rentals are NOT a 'single-family residential' use unless local code expressly says so. Practical takeaway: hosts must register with the Treasurer, pass IPMC inspection, verify zoning, and collect the Berks County 5% hotel tax plus the 6% PA state hotel occupancy tax.