City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Langley, WA
How Langley 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 of 15 whole-home (Type IV) STR licenses per year
- only one Type IV whole-home STR license issued per owner
- ADU-as-STR citywide cap of 30
- no absentee whole-home STR pathway outside the 15-license quota
Based on: Langley Municipal Code (LMC) Chapter 5.40 — Short-Term Rental License; Ord. 1115 § 2 (Exh. A), 2024 (reduced Type IV
Summary of the rule
LMC 5.40.030 (codified): 'C. The number of Type IV short-term rental licenses to be issued in one year is limited to 15.... E. For Type IV STR, only one short-term rental license shall be issued per owner. F. The maximum number of accessory dwelling units (ADU), attached or detached, used as short-term rentals shall be limited to 30.' Type IV = non-hosted whole-home STR. LMC 5.40.040.E: 'If the number of Type IV license applications exceeds the number of Type IV licenses to be issued by the city, applications shall be selected at random for processing.' Hard citywide 15-license quota + one-per-owner limit = foreclosing supply device on absentee whole-home STR.
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Last reviewed Sep 17, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Langley · 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.