Virginia Beach, VA Short-Term Rental Rules (2026)
Can I operate a short-term rental in Virginia Beach?
New un-hosted whole-home STRs are barred outside Sandbridge and the Oceanfront Resort overlay, so a typical parcel has no lawful path for a new buyer. Inside those two areas STRs are lawful with an annual zoning permit, and the Oceanfront also requires a council-granted conditional use permit.
Key facts
What the record says about short-term rentals in Virginia Beach, 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 Virginia Beach scores the way it does. Listed most important first.
What holds it back
- Zone eligibility (No zones) sets a hard limit on how high the score can go.Source
- Minimum stay (30 nights) sets a hard limit on how high the score can go.
- Zone eligibility (No zones) lowers the score.Source
- Minimum stay (30 nights) lowers the score.
- Occupancy limit (2 per bedroom) lowers the score.Source
- Lodging tax (15%) lowers the score.
What helps
- Virginia law bars local permit requirements, so local rules on those don't count.
- Platform collects tax (Yes) raises the score.Source
- Some areas allow STRs; the score reflects the best legal option.
Operating restrictions
What limits how, where and how often you can rent in Virginia Beach.
Occupancy / night caps / zoning limits
Zoning limits are the main control: new STRs are limited to the named areas, and grandfathered properties lose status after a two-year vacancy. Guest limits and parking minimums apply.
- Parking minimum per property
- Vacancy limit for grandfathered properties
Enforcement / penalties
A complaint line handles reports. State law caps penalties for unregistered operation, and City Council can revoke permits for non-compliance. Operating an STR in violation of the zoning ordinance is a zoning violation.
- Complaint line and email for STR reports
- Permit revocation by City Council
New to this? Owner-occupied vs non-owner-occupied STRs, explained
Permit requirements
What you need to file or hold before hosting in Virginia Beach.
Permits & licensing
Each address needs an annual short-term rental zoning permit issued through the city's online portal. Operators must also register with the Commissioner of the Revenue, who assigns a lodging tax account. Sandbridge operators are not required to upload proof of registration or tax payment with the permit but must still register and pay.
- Annual STR zoning permit per address
- Commissioner of the Revenue registration
- Conditional use permit from City Council inside the Oceanfront Resort overlay
- Proof of insurance listing the rental address
- Off-street parking plan approved by zoning
New to this? How short-term rental permits and licensing work
Taxes
Lodging, occupancy and related taxes or fees.
Taxes & fees
The city levies a transient occupancy tax plus a flat nightly room tax, at a higher rate in Sandbridge, and state sales tax also applies. A zoning application fee is charged for each permit.
- City transient occupancy tax plus flat nightly tax
- Monthly remittance to the city
- Zoning permit application fee
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 Virginia Beach through the deal analyzer for cash flow, cap rate, and long-term projections.
Sources
Last verified October 22, 2026 (19 days ago). Short-term rental rules can change between checks. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before relying on this for a real decision.
- planning.virginiabeach.gov › permits/short-term-rental
- planning.virginiabeach.gov › short-term-rental/proposed-str-overlay
- cor.virginiabeach.gov
- 13newsnow.com
- hostaway.com › blog/short-term-rentals-in-virginia-beach
- law.lis.virginia.gov › vacode/15.2-983
- vacode.org
- vpap.org
- news.yahoo.com
- hostaway.com › blog/airbnb-rules-in-virginia
- law.lis.virginia.gov › session1/chapter758
- planning.virginiabeach.gov › short-term-rental/faqs
A free STRVE account shows which rule each source supports, plus the full jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdown, change history, and rule-change alerts for Virginia Beach.
Short-term rental rules near Virginia Beach
All Virginia 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