Santa Cruz Short-Term Rental & Airbnb Rules: The 2026 Guide

Thinking about listing your Santa Cruz property on Airbnb or VRBO? Both the City of Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz County require a permit before you can legally rent short-term — and both have hard caps on how many permits they'll issue.

Short-term rentals can bring in more income than a traditional lease, but Santa Cruz's rules are stricter than most people expect. Skip the paperwork and you risk fines, code enforcement, and a shutdown notice. Here's what property owners actually need to know before listing a unit.

Table of Contents

• Hosted vs. Non-Hosted Rentals
• City of Santa Cruz Rules
• Santa Cruz County Rules
• Where Short-Term Rentals Are Banned Outright
• How to Apply
• Fees to Expect
• What Happens If You Skip the Permit

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional legal advice. Rules can change — always confirm current requirements with the City of Santa Cruz or Santa Cruz County Planning Department before applying.

Hosted vs. Non-Hosted Rentals

Every short-term rental in Santa Cruz falls into one of two categories, and which one applies to you changes everything about the permit process:

• Hosted rental: You (the owner) live in the home more than 6 months a year, and rent out a room or portion of it. You don't have to be present during a guest's stay.
• Non-hosted rental: The entire home is rented out and the owner doesn't live there full-time. This is what most people picture when they think “vacation rental.”

Non-hosted permits are far harder to get, since both jurisdictions cap the total number available and hosted permits move faster.

City of Santa Cruz Rules

Inside city limits, short-term rentals are governed by the Residential STR Ordinance (Municipal Code Chapter 24.12, Part 18). Key points for 2026:

• You need both a Short-Term Rental Permit and a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Certificate before you can list a property.
• The city caps hosted permits at 250 citywide, issued first-come, first-served. There's currently no waitlist, and the city is actively accepting hosted applications.
• The city is not issuing new non-hosted permits right now. If you don't already have one, you're likely looking at hosted-only for the time being.
• Properties with a single-family home plus an ADU or JADU cannot get a permit for either unit. No new ADU short-term rental permits are being issued at all.
• Minimum parking still applies: 1 space for a studio/1-bedroom, 2 spaces for anything with 2+ bedrooms.
• You'll need to submit a scaled site plan, a floor plan showing which rooms are being rented, an exterior photo showing your address, and — for hosted applicants — three separate proofs that the home is your primary residence (homeowner's exemption plus two more, such as a tax return, utility bill, or driver's license).

Applications go through tot.cityofsantacruz.com/primeweb, and the city has 30 calendar days to approve or request more information (City of Santa Cruz).

Santa Cruz County Rules

Outside city limits, the county's Short-Term Rental Ordinance splits permits into Hosted and Non-Hosted, with caps that vary sharply by area:

A few rules that trip up new applicants:

• You can only hold one short-term rental permit per person, entity, or property — and never both a hosted and non-hosted permit at the same time.
• In the three designated coastal areas, a parcel can be blocked from getting a non-hosted permit if it's adjacent to two or more parcels that already have one.
• If every permit slot in your area is full, you can join a waitlist for $145/year, with availability reviewed twice a year (January 15 and July 15) (Santa Cruz County CDI).

Where Short-Term Rentals Are Banned Outright

Regardless of permits or caps, short-term rentals are not allowed in:

• Mobile home parks
• Deed-restricted affordable housing units
• Apartment buildings
• Any property with an ADU or Junior ADU (state law applies here too)

How to Apply

1. Confirm your zoning and permit availability first. The county strongly recommends checking with a planner before starting — permits fill up fast in coastal areas.
2. Gather your documents: site plan, floor plan, photo, and (for hosted) proof of primary residency.
3. Get your TOT Certificate alongside your STR permit — you need both, not just one.
4. Submit and wait for review. Expect a 30-day review cycle, possibly two rounds if the city or county requests changes.
5. Register your listing with any hosting platform per the city's or county's rules for Airbnb/VRBO listings.

Fees to Expect

On top of the permit fee, the city requires enrollment in its Rental Inspection Service, billed annually.

What Happens If You Skip the Permit

Both the city and county review submitted floor plans for unpermitted construction and other code violations as part of the application — so trying to skip the process doesn't just risk a fine, it can surface other problems on your property. Code complaints about unpermitted short-term rentals can also be filed directly with the city's Code Compliance division.

Bottom Line

Santa Cruz's short-term rental market is capped, competitive, and paperwork-heavy — but for owners who qualify, it can be a strong income strategy. If self-managing the permit process, guest turnover, and compliance sounds like more than you want to take on, that's exactly the kind of thing a local property manager handles day-to-day. Contact Andren Homes to talk through whether short-term or traditional long-term rental makes more sense for your property.

Sources: City of Santa Cruz — Short-Term Rentals, Santa Cruz County — Short-Term Rentals