Short-term rentals in Richmond, explained properly.

City Code § 30-1220 defines a short-term rental as a room or group of rooms, all within a single dwelling unit of a dwelling use permitted in the district, used or intended to be used as lodging for at least one but fewer than 30 consecutive nights by the traveling public and similar transient guests for compensation on a daily basis. Short-term rentals are distinguished from hotels, motels, tourist and lodging houses and emergency, transitional and supportive housing.

For each short-term rental the operator must send the Zoning Administrator a letter with the operator's name, permanent mailing address, primary phone number and email address (if any), and an acknowledgment that the unit is operated as a short-term rental (§ 30-697.1(3)). The operator must also give the Zoning Administrator, and post inside the rental, a floor plan labeling the use of each room, the occupancy of sleeping rooms and cooking facilities, the location and size of emergency exits, and the location of fire and carbon monoxide detectors (§ 30-697.1(4)). The City's page lists the Short-Term Rental Owner Affidavit, a dimensioned floor plan and proof of primary residency as required documents, and says an inspection is required before the certificate is issued.

For condominiums and co-ops, the operator's letter to the Zoning Administrator must include evidence that the condominium or co-op board has approved a request to use the unit as a short-term rental.

The City Code says a certificate of zoning compliance for a short-term rental may never be read as overriding any other law, deed covenant, property right or property owners' association bylaw. Virginia law (§ 15.2-983(E)) likewise leaves recorded covenants, condominium instruments and owners' association declarations in force.

Each certificate of zoning compliance for a short-term rental expires 730 days after it is issued. An operator who wants to keep renting may apply for a new certificate no sooner than 30 days before the expiration date. The City's page says each permit is active for two years from issuance.

A certificate of zoning compliance cannot be transferred to any person; a new owner or tenant of the premises must apply for a new certificate (City Code § 30-1020.2).

City Code § 30-1020.4(b) says a certificate of zoning compliance is not approved until the Zoning Administrator has evidence that any delinquent real estate taxes on the property have been paid.

The number of short-term renters over 18 in or at a short-term rental may not exceed the lesser of eight people or the number allowed by the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, and at least one renter in each booking must be 18 or older (City Code § 30-697.1(1)-(2)). The City's page says the number of children is not limited.

An operator may not accept more than one booking for the same period (or any part of it) if that would put two or more separately booked groups in the same short-term rental at the same time.

Smoke detectors, a fire extinguisher and carbon monoxide detectors must be present in compliance with the current Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (City Code § 30-697.1(5)-(7)). The City's page adds that the fire extinguisher must be accessible at all times and carbon monoxide detectors must be in any room used for sleeping or cooking.

All advertisements for a short-term rental must include its active certificate of zoning compliance (City Code § 30-697.1(10)); the City's page says the permit approval number must be posted on all advertisements.

The City's page says the number of nights a short-term rental can operate is not limited, and the short-term rental rules in City Code Division 14 set no night cap.

The City's page says no additional parking is required for a short-term rental.

An operator may not offer, provide, advertise or allow use of the dwelling unit for any commercial use that is prohibited by law (City Code § 30-697.1(14)).

A violation of the zoning code is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. If a court orders the violation fixed and it is not, that is a separate offense with a fine of up to $1,000, and each further ten-day period is another offense (up to $1,500, then up to $2,000). Any violation can also be punished by up to 12 months in jail, and the City adds a $100 administrative fee (City Code § 30-1080). The City's page says violators usually get a Notice and Correction Order with 30 days to fix the problem before a summons, and describes a fine of up to $2,500; this page uses the amounts in the code.

To report a short-term rental operating without a permit or breaking the rules, contact the Zoning Administration office at (804) 646-6340 or [email protected], or file through RVA311, with a description and the property address.

The City of Richmond levies a transient lodging tax of 8% of the total room charge for accommodations, which include any tourist home or house or other lodging place in the City, rented to transients (people staying fewer than 90 consecutive days). The room charge includes fees kept by a booking platform and other charges connected with the rental. When an accommodations intermediary (such as a booking platform) facilitates the sale, the intermediary collects, remits and is liable for the tax; otherwise the accommodations provider collects it, states it separately on the bill and remits it. Reports and payments are due to the Director of Finance by the 20th of each month for the previous month (City Code §§ 26-724 to 26-728, Code of 2026). Virginia sales tax is charged separately (see the state section); no official source read states a combined total.

Code of Virginia § 15.2-983 defines a short-term rental as a room or space offered for dwelling, sleeping or lodging for fewer than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a charge. Any locality may, by ordinance, set up a short-term rental registry and require operators to register every year. Registration is ministerial: the operator's name, the address of each property offered, and, if the operator is a lessee or sublessee, an attestation that the owner has given permission. A locality may charge a reasonable fee tied to the cost of the registry. People licensed by the Real Estate Board (or owners represented by a real estate licensee), time-share registrants, places licensed by the Department of Health and businesses licensed by the locality for rental or property management (such as hotels and bed and breakfasts) cannot be required to register. A registry ordinance may set a penalty of up to $500 per violation for offering an unregistered property, and may bar an operator from offering a property after repeated registry violations or after violations of state and local short-term rental laws on more than three occasions. No local ordinance may prohibit an operator from offering a property solely because the operator is a lessee or sublessee, if the owner has given permission; a locality may limit a lessee or sublessee to one short-term rental. No local ordinance enacted after December 31, 2023 may require a special exception, special use or conditional use permit for a short-term rental in a dwelling that the owner also legally occupies as a primary residence. Otherwise, localities keep their general land use and zoning authority over short-term rentals, and the statute does not override recorded covenants, condominium instruments or property owners' association declarations. The section was last amended in 2024 (Acts of Assembly 2024, chapters 700 and 792).

Virginia's retail sales tax applies to accommodations, which the Retail Sales and Use Tax Act defines to include short-term rentals as well as hotels, motels, inns and similar places. A taxable retail sale includes charges for accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days. The Department of Taxation says the tax applies to the total charge for the accommodation, and that fees charged by booking agents and other companies that handle reservations are also taxable; under the statute the room charge includes any fee retained for facilitating the sale.

The Virginia Department of Taxation lists the general sales tax rate by location: 7% in James City County, Williamsburg and York County; 6.3% in Charlotte County, Danville, Gloucester County, Halifax County, Henry County, Northampton County, Patrick County and Pittsylvania County; 6% in the Central Virginia region (Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and Richmond City), Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia; and 5.3% everywhere else. The page lists different rates only for groceries and for aircraft, watercraft and motor vehicles. Rates are set by the locality where the sale is made. Local lodging or transient occupancy taxes charged by cities and counties are separate and are listed on each city page.

The Department of Taxation says the tax is collected by either the accommodations provider or the accommodations intermediary, depending on how the stay was booked. Online travel companies, travel agents and similar businesses that facilitate bookings are accommodations intermediaries. When a short-term rental is booked through an intermediary, the intermediary collects the tax on the total charge, including its own fees, and reports the sales tax on the entire transaction on its Virginia sales tax return.

When a reservation is made directly with the accommodations provider, the Department of Taxation says the provider collects the tax on the total charge for the lodging and reports it on its Virginia sales tax return. Sellers whose sales go through a marketplace facilitator's platform generally do not need to collect sales tax on those sales, but may still need to register to collect it on their own sales outside the platform; registering gives you a sales tax account number and a Certificate of Registration (Form ST-4).