Conway, NH Short-Term Rental Rules (2026)
Can I operate a short-term rental in Conway?
Short-term rentals are lawful in Conway's residential districts following the state high court's 2023 ruling, subject to a state meals and rooms license and the town's Chapter 72 rental property permit with an inspection or self-affidavit; inside the Kearsarge Lighting Precinct, owner presence is required.
Key facts
What the record says about short-term rentals in Conway, with the level of law each comes from. What do these facts mean?
Can you operate?
Stay limits
Taxes
Why this score
The main reasons Conway scores the way it does. Listed most important first.
What holds it back
- Permit or license (Yes) lowers the score.
- Zone eligibility (Most zones) lowers the score.Source
- Lodging tax (8.5%) lowers the score.
Not yet known
- 11 more factors — free account
- 19 facts are not yet established, so the score leans on typical values.
Operating restrictions
What limits how, where and how often you can rent in Conway.
Owner-occupancy / primary-residence rules
After the 2023 state high court decision, the zoning ordinance's residential-unit definition covers rentals not occupied by the owner. Exceptions are special-exception conversions and accessory units, which must be used for long-term residency, and the Kearsarge Lighting Precinct, whose own ordinance requires the owner's overnight presence during transient stays.
- Kearsarge Lighting Precinct: owner or adult family member present overnight during every transient stay
- Converted older homes and accessory units approved by special exception: long-term residency only
Enforcement / penalties
Violations are enforced by the town's designated official with fines under state statute and an appeal to the selectboard. The town has a history of litigation and repeated zoning proposals aimed at STRs.
- Appeal of compliance decisions to the selectboard
- Fines under state statute
New to this? Owner-occupied vs non-owner-occupied STRs, explained
Permit requirements
What you need to file or hold before hosting in Conway.
Permits & licensing
Operators need a state meals and rooms license and the town's rental property permit under Chapter 72, which applies to long- and short-term rentals alike. Existing lawful one- and two-family rentals may self-certify, while buyers and newly created rentals must pass a town life-safety inspection before renting.
- State meals and rooms tax license, with the license number in listings
- Town rental property permit under Chapter 72
- Self-affidavit for lawful pre-existing one- and two-family rentals, or town inspection
- Town inspection before renting for new owners and newly created rentals
New to this? How short-term rental permits and licensing work
Taxes
Lodging, occupancy and related taxes or fees.
Taxes & fees
The state meals and rooms tax applies to short-term rentals and is collected by platforms on facilitated bookings; no separate local lodging tax was found. Town permit fees and inspection charges apply under Chapter 72.
- State meals and rooms tax, collected by platforms on facilitated stays
- Chapter 72 permit and inspection fees set by the selectboard
New to this? Short-term rental lodging taxes, explained
Recent changes
The dated change history is part of the free account. Email alerts above need no account.
Market assumptions
Estimates, not lawRevenue, occupancy and returns depend on the specific property and are estimates, separate from the rules above.
Run any property in Conway through the deal analyzer for cash flow, cap rate, and long-term projections.
Sources
Last verified October 18, 2026 (23 days ago). Short-term rental rules can change between checks. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before relying on this for a real decision.
- conwaynh.gov
- nhmunicipal.org
- revenue.nh.gov
- conwaydailysun.com › …ticle_e068172a-e5cb-42b3-b876-39a3ca23ab24.html
- writing.strisker.com
- conwaydailysun.com › …ticle_dbdc0048-cdb8-11ef-ad6d-0373a0ba67ed.html
- gc.nh.gov
- strprofitmap.com
- nhbr.com
- citizenscount.org › bills/hb-1619-2026
- citizenscount.org › bills/hb-1068-2026
- startbusinessbystate.com
A free STRVE account shows which rule each source supports, plus the full jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdown, change history, and rule-change alerts for Conway.
Short-term rental rules near Conway
All New Hampshire cities →How we research this
The STRVE Score is our own regulation rating, built from seven levels of authority: state, county, town, HOA, deed restrictions, special districts, and platform rules. Each level is scored separately, with its own citations and the date we verified it. The headline number is the strictest of the seven, never an average, because the tightest rule is the one that governs you.
We keep a history of what a city's rules said before and when they changed, so a score that moves is traceable to the rule that moved it.
- Highly permissive
- 90+
- Friendly
- 70–89
- Moderate
- 45–69
- Heavily restricted
- 20–44
- Effectively banned
- 0–19
Not legal advice
STRVE is a research tool, not financial or legal advice. Always verify regulation, tax, and permitting details with the local jurisdiction and a licensed professional before you buy.
The STRVE Score and the seven-level breakdown are our own rating framework, not an official or government rating, and no jurisdiction endorses or reviews them. The rules behind them are researched from public sources with AI assistance and are current only as of the verification date shown, so they can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. None of it substitutes for advice from local counsel. Confirm every permit, tax, occupancy, and zoning requirement against the jurisdiction's own municipal code and with an attorney licensed in that jurisdiction before you buy, list, or operate. Terms of Service