Short-term rental rules · Asheville, North Carolina
Short-term rentals in Asheville, explained properly.
Asheville effectively limits short-term rentals to "homestays": a permitted full-time resident of the home (normally the owner; a resident tenant can apply jointly with the owner) who stays on-site for the entire guest stay may rent one or two bedrooms for stays under 30 days in a residential zone, but not in a detached accessory building. Renting an entire home or unit short-term (a "short-term vacation rental") is banned citywide except in the small Resort zoning district, making whole-home Airbnb-style rentals effectively off-limits across nearly all of Asheville.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are short-term rentals allowed? | Only as homestays in residential zones; whole-home rentals confined to the Resort zoning district [1] [2] |
| What qualifies as a homestay | Full-time resident host present for the whole stay; rents only 1-2 bedrooms; stays under 30 days; not in a detached accessory building [1] [3] |
| Homestay permit fee | $200 permit fee; permit does not expire but is reviewed and inspected annually [4] [5] [3] [6] |
| Buncombe County occupancy tax rate | 6% of gross receipts [7] [8] |
| Typical combined guest tax | ~13% [6] |
| Penalty for operating an illegal short-term rental | $500/day after a 30-day compliance notice [6]Confirming |
| Does North Carolina preempt local STR bans? | No — North Carolina leaves core STR use rules to local zoning [9] |
| Pending state bill that could override Asheville's ban | SB 291 (2025) — stalled since introduction [10] [9] |
| Buncombe County STR policy review status | Postponed indefinitely after Hurricane Helene [11]Confirming |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Eligibility & zoning
| Where homestays are allowed | Residential zones, in the main dwelling only, with a full-time resident host on-site [1] [3] A homestay may operate in a residential zone in Asheville, provided a full-time resident (the owner, or a resident co-applying with the owner) lives in the dwelling, is present for the entire guest stay, and rents no more than two bedrooms. Homestays are not allowed in detached accessory structures (except those permitted before December 14, 2021), and only one homestay is allowed per lot. |
|---|---|
| Whole-home STR outside the Resort district | Not permitted outside the Resort zoning district (commercial-zone option removed in 2018) [2] [12] [3] Entire-home short-term rentals (STVRs) are only allowed in the Resort zoning district. Under a 2015 rule they could also be permitted in commercially zoned areas with a change-of-use permit, but in January 2018 City Council voted to end that: whole-unit short-term rentals are no longer a use by right in any district except Resort. Contemporary news coverage reports that outside the Resort district an owner would have to seek a conditional zoning (rezoning) approval from the city. STVRs must also meet off-street parking requirements, allow no signage and keep stays under one month. |
| History of the bedroom limit | Reduced from 3 to 2 bedrooms in 2015 [13] Asheville City Council adopted updates to homestay regulations in November 2015 that reduced the maximum number of rentable bedrooms from three to two and removed percentage-of-home-use restrictions, aiming to protect neighborhood character while clarifying enforcement. |
Licensing & application
| Homestay permit application process | Online application; annual renewal form; no listed permit expiration [2] New homestay permits are applied for through the city's online portal; a separate annual renewal form is used for existing permits, though the underlying permit itself carries no expiration date and there is no additional annual renewal fee beyond the initial application. |
|---|---|
| Compliance division contact and hours | Development Services Compliance Division; Mon–Fri, 8:30am–5pm [1] Homestay and STR compliance is handled by the Development Services Compliance Division, which accepts complaints via the Asheville App and operates weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding public holidays; investigations may occur outside these hours but staff are not formally on-call. |
Operating rules & enforcement
| Enforcement process for violations | 30-day compliance notice, then daily fines [13] Property owners found operating an illegal homestay or whole-home short-term rental first receive a 30-day compliance notice. If the violation isn't resolved within that window, the city can begin issuing fines. |
|---|---|
| How violations are reported | Asheville App [1] Residents and the public can report suspected homestay or short-term rental violations through the Asheville App, which routes complaints to the Compliance Division. |
Taxes & fees
| North Carolina state sales tax | 4.75% [6] North Carolina's state sales tax applies to short-term lodging transactions statewide. |
|---|---|
| Buncombe County local sales tax | 2.25% [6] Buncombe County adds a 2.25% local sales tax on top of the state rate, for a 7% combined sales tax on short-term lodging. |
| Occupancy tax filing and owner liability | Monthly filing by the 20th; owner remains ultimately liable [14] [8] The Buncombe County occupancy tax is filed monthly by the 20th of the following month. Property owners remain ultimately liable for the tax even when a booking platform collects and remits it on their behalf. |
| Long-stay tax exemption | Stays of 90+ continuous days by the same guest are exempt [14] [8] Guests staying 90 or more continuous days are treated as long-term tenants and exempt from the occupancy tax. |
Changes
Recent and pending changes
We checked the City of Asheville homestay/STVR pages and UDO Sec. 7-16-1 (homestay and short-term vacation rental standards), the city's Fees and Charges Manual, the Buncombe County occupancy tax remittance form, the North Carolina General Assembly bill page for SB 291, the Buncombe County Short-Term Rental Ad Hoc Committee page, and post-Hurricane Helene (September 2024) local news. No change to Asheville's homestay or STVR rules was found since the December 2021 ban on homestays in detached accessory structures. SB 291 (2025), which would bar outright local STR bans, has had no action since its March 17, 2025 referral to the Senate Rules committee, but would likely force changes to Asheville's Resort-district-only rule for whole-home rentals if enacted. Buncombe County's STR policy review (which covers unincorporated county, not the city) has been on hold since Hurricane Helene, with committee meetings cancelled from October 2024 onward.
Asheville City Council adopted updates to its homestay ordinance in November 2015, reducing the maximum number of rentable bedrooms from three to two and removing percentage-of-home-use restrictions.
On January 9, 2018, Asheville City Council voted 6-1 to end whole-unit short-term vacation rentals as a use by right in commercial and mixed-use districts, leaving the Resort district as the only district where they are allowed by right. Outside it, owners would need conditional zoning approval.
Senate Bill 291, introduced in the North Carolina Senate in March 2025, would bar cities from outright STR prohibitions and overnight caps and set guardrails for local permit systems. As of October 2, 2026, the General Assembly shows no action since its March 17, 2025 referral to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations. If passed, it would likely require Asheville to allow whole-home rentals beyond the Resort zoning district.
Buncombe County's Short-Term Rental Ad Hoc Committee, which had been expected to deliver policy recommendations by late 2024, indefinitely postponed further meetings after Hurricane Helene, shelving additional STR restrictions to focus on disaster recovery. We found no county action on it as of October 2026.
Sources
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.