No. Florida preempts vacation-rental regulation to the state and bars counties from prohibiting rentals or restricting how often you rent. Lake County cannot force a short-term rental to be an owner-occupied primary residence.
A primary-residence-only rule is effectively a ban on non-owner-occupied vacation rentals, which FS 509.032(7)(b) prohibits: a local ordinance may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of their rental. Only ordinances adopted on or before June 1, 2011 are grandfathered. Lake County has no post-2011 primary-residence mandate for STRs in the unincorporated area. Whole-home, non-owner-occupied vacation rentals are lawful so long as the operator holds the state DBPR license, collects and remits the Tourist Development Tax, and complies with uniformly applied noise, parking, and safety rules.
There is no primary-residence violation to enforce; the county cannot condition a rental on owner occupancy under Florida law.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lake County, FL
Home composting is allowed in Lake County and encouraged for waste reduction. There is no county ban on residential compost piles, but they must not become a...
Lake County, FL
Lake County has no countywide ban on residential artificial turf. There is no dedicated county artificial-turf ordinance; installation should still meet stor...
Lake County, FL
Florida law protects your right to install Florida-friendly and native landscaping. Neither Lake County nor an HOA may prohibit water-conserving, native-plan...
Lake County, FL
Lake County does not prohibit residential rain barrels or cisterns, and Florida encourages water conservation. State law protects Florida-friendly landscapin...
Lake County, FL
Most of Lake County lies in the St. Johns River Water Management District, which sets year-round irrigation limits: no watering 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and assigned ...
Lake County, FL
Unincorporated Lake County treats nuisance weeds and grass over 10 inches on an improved lot under 1 acre as a code violation. The county enforces abatement ...
See how Lake County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.