City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Portland, ME
How Portland 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.
- Hard citywide cap on Mainland Non-Owner-Occupied STRs at 1.5% of registered Long Term Rentals (293 units for 2026), released annually by the Licensing & Registration Office
- Any applicant that does not renew by 12/31 is bumped off the license and placed on a waitlist behind existing holders — no by-right path to a new non-owner-occupied mainland unit while the cap is met/exceeded
- New Tenant Occupied STRs are not allowed beginning in 2026 (closed category)
- Single-family homes/condos on the mainland can ONLY be licensed if Owner Occupied — non-owner-occupied whole-home STR is foreclosed for that housing type outside the capped/waitlisted non-owner-occupied lane
- Peaks Island Year Round Non-Owner-Occupied carries its own separate hard cap of 40 units, also waitlisted
Based on: Portland City Code of Ordinances, Chapter 6 (Housing and Maintenance Standards), §§ 6-150 et seq. (Short Term Rentals)
Summary of the rule
"I have a Mainland Non Owner Occupied (STR). Is anything changing? Yes. The cap will be changing from 400 units to 1.5% of registered Long Term Rentals on 9/1 of the previous year. The Licensing and Registration Office will release that number each year on that date. You can continue to be licensed as long as you renew by 12/31. Any applicant that does not renew by 12/31 will be placed on the waitlist."
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Last reviewed Sep 15, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Portland · system last checked Oct 13, 2026
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