City Council approved amendments to the Zoning Ordinance December 14, 2022 to require all short-term rentals (STRs) to obtain a Use Permit prior to operating in Hampton.
What is a Short-Term Rental?
A Short-Term Rental is defined here and includes rentals that are 30 days or less of residential accommodations, which commonly includes homes listed on AirBnB or other online platforms. They can be a portion of a home, the entire home, or even an apartment. Short-Term Rentals require a Hampton business license, and an approved Use Permit. All currently approved Use Permits for Short -Term Rentals can be found here.
Prior to the December 2022 change, Short-Term Rentals were permitted only as an accessory use to single family homes which meant the owner had to live at the property more than half the year and maintain a valid business license with zoning approval. The adopted ordinance provides a “grace period” for those legally existing Short-Term Rentals, which are listed here. The listed Short-term Rentals can continue operation only as an accessory use until December 31, 2024, before requiring an approved Use Permit to continue.
Do you have a concern about a Short-Term Rental?
If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 911. If your concern is related to Short Term Rentals and not an emergency, you can click this link to see approved Use Permits which contains the contact information for a local responsible person for each approved Short-Term Rental. The provided contact may be able to resolve the issue. If that does not work, if you do not wish to call that contact, or if the Short -Term Rental is not listed, please contact our 3-1-1 Citizen Contact Center by calling (757) 727-8311, emailing 311@Hampton.gov or visiting our website here.
Do you want to establish a new Short-Term Rental?
To establish a new Short-Term Rental, you will need to receive approval of a Use Permit which requires public hearings with the Planning Commission and City Council. To get started, we ask that you email CDDZoning@Hampton.gov to provide an address and a description of your proposed operation. City staff will review and assign you a city planner to assist in guiding you through the process.
An application for the Use Permit can be found here with supplemental information here, which includes details about what documents are required, the fees associated, and the general process.
When developing this process, staff worked closely with a set of community and industry stakeholders to develop a set of recommended conditions that may apply to your Short-Term Rental if approved. Those can be viewed here. Staff has also created this handout to show what a required floor plan may look like.