City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Cambridge, MA
How Cambridge regulates short-term rentals: the rules that apply, their sources, and pending changes.
Rules here limit which homes may operate as short-term rentals, how many, where, or for how many nights a year.
- operator primary-residence required in the structure (forecloses absentee whole-home STR)
- owner-occupied host-present only, or owner-adjacent in a <=4-unit building the operator owns
- STR registration plus life-safety inspection with Inspectional Services
- per-operator limit of 1 operator-occupied unit and 1 owner-adjacent unit per operator
Based on: Cambridge Zoning Ordinance Section 4.60 'Short-Term Rentals', added by Ordinance No. 1397 (enacted 2017; first
Summary of the rule
Cambridge Zoning Ordinance Sec. 4.64: 'Short-term rentals are permitted as an accessory residential use in existing dwellings in all districts where residential use is permitted, subject to the following requirements: 1. Only operator-occupied short-term rentals and owner-adjacent short-term rentals are permitted.' Sec. 4.62(d): 'Operator-occupied short-term rental. The short-term rental of a dwelling unit, or of no more three (3) individual bedrooms within such dwelling unit, that is the primary residence of its operator.' Sec. 4.62(e): 'Owner-adjacent short-term rental. The short-term rental of a dwelling unit that is not the primary residence of the operator, but is located within a residential building with a total of four or fewer dwelling units where all dwelling units in the building are owned by the operator, and one of the dwelling units in the building is the primary residence of the operator.'
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Last reviewed Sep 25, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Cambridge · system last checked Oct 24, 2026
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