Happy New Year! Along with our collective resolutions have come the imposition of new regulations from the City of Philadelphia. On January 1st, 2023, Philadelphia rolled out a new set of regulations for Airbnb and short-term rental properties. While these should not come as a surprise to anyone since the City has been delaying the start of these for some time now, Airbnb has now begun enforcing these new regulations.
Previous short term rental regulations required owners, who live in the same building they were short-term renting out, to get a zoning permit ONLY if they were renting the space out for more than 90 days a year. If it was 90 days or less, and it was your primary residence, you didn’t have to procure a license. The new regulation now requires homeowners to acquire a Limited Lodging Permit and Operator License for a short-term rental regardless of the number of days they are renting out per year. Note, that if you go the way of the Limited Lodging Permit, you are only permitted to rent your property for up to 180 days per year.
For owners wanting to rent out a property that they don’t reside in, they must get a Visitor Accommodation Permit and Hotel Rental License. This license allows you to rent a property out, on a short term basis, all year long. However, there are only very limited circumstances where a homeowner will qualify for the Visitor Accommodation Permit.
Short-term rental hosts in both circumstances will have to provide a license number confirming their permits with online platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. Since the rental companies would be liable for any violations, they will likely not list any properties without the proper licensing. As I mentioned before, there was some speculation as to whether these platforms would actually require the licenses, however that is no longer a question as property owners without uploaded licenses are being given a quick warning before being removed from the platform.
A common issue encountered when applying for one of these permits is the location of the property in question. Zoning use must allow the property to be a hotel or short-term rental otherwise you will be required to go in front of the Zoning Board to get a variance for the property. The only zoning districts which allow for visitor accommodation permits by right are CMX3, CMX4, CMX5, IRMX, SP-INS, SP-ENT, SP-STA, and SP-AIR. Good luck finding many properties available in these districts, as these new laws have made them highly sought after.
If you are experiencing any issues complying with the new regulations or acquiring a rental (short term or otherwise) license Philadelphia Zoning is here to help. With the new regulations only a small number of Limited Lodging Operator Licenses have been issued and Philadelphia Zoning is responsible for helping many of those renters acquire their new licenses.
Alongside the new regulations, the city of Philadelphia has increased its fee for processing standard long-term rental licenses from $56 to $63 as well as for most other permits/licenses. If you need any assistance with licensing or zoning requirements for your short-term rentals or other properties, reach out to our full-service Pennsylvania/New Jersey real estate firm at Philadelphia Zoning/Console Matison at Info@PhiladelphiaZoning.com.
