City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Virginia Beach, VA
How Virginia Beach 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.
- By-right STR confined to a single overlay (Sandbridge Special Service District)
- Conditional Use Permit (City Council approval) required in the Oceanfront Resort STR Overlay and elsewhere
- New STRs banned outside Sandbridge unless a neighborhood petitions (~75%) for an overlay/exemption
- Annual STR zoning permit ($500) + life-safety and structural inspections + parking plan
- $1,000,000 liability insurance required
- CUPs expire 5 years from adoption; grandfathering only for CUPs approved before Sept. 7, 2021 (or pre-July 1, 2018 registrations)
- Criminal/misdemeanor enforcement for zoning violations (reinstated 2025)
Based on: Virginia Beach City Zoning Ordinance (Appendix A) §241.2 'Short term rental'; STR overlay framework adopted by City
Summary of the rule
New STRs require a Conditional Use Permit outside overlays; by-right STR is confined to the Sandbridge Special Service District; Oceanfront Resort STR Overlay requires a CUP; new STRs otherwise barred unless a neighborhood petitions for an overlay
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Active litigation / open question
Realtor groups and homeowners sued the Virginia Beach City Council over the STR overlay restrictions (descriptive, §2.7) Source ↗
Reported as fact only, reflecting the code as currently in effect — not legal advice, and not a prediction of the outcome. Verify current status before relying on it.
Last reviewed Sep 14, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Virginia Beach · system last checked Oct 25, 2026
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City Watch provides good-faith summaries of publicly available information as of the review date shown. Rules, enforcement, and permit availability can change, and summaries may contain errors or omissions. Ratings describe the general regulatory environment; they do not establish whether a particular property or stay is permitted. This is general information, not legal advice. Before buying, listing, or hosting, verify applicable requirements with the responsible authorities and review any HOA, condominium, deed, or lease restrictions.