Austin hears feedback on proposed 'overhaul' of short-term rental regulations
The city of Austin is in the process of collecting public input on proposed changes to short-term rental (STR) regulations. The first of three public hearings happened Tuesday.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The city of Austin is collecting public input on proposed changes to short-term rental (STR) regulations. The first of three public hearings happened Tuesday.
What is the community saying?
Tuesday, the Planning Commission and Austin City Council members heard from members of the short-term rental community, rental hosts and neighbors plagued by nuisance short-term rentals (STRs).
"We need the planning commission and the council to understand that these un-staffed hotels are not appropriate for our neighborhoods and that they bring with them a lot of safety concerns and neighborhood compatibility issues," said Rose Ballard, one of the speakers.
Ballard said there had been several instances of violence, including a shooting, stemming from short-term rentals in her neighborhood.
Meanwhile, hosts of short-term rentals also showed up to ask that the rules not overly restrict them, make hosting more expensive, or in the case of Darrell Gest -- who said he has operated a permitted STR with his wife since 2014 -- he requested more slight changes to the rules, including maintaining privacy for hosts during the listing process.
"For us and our neighborhood, it's a small neighborhood, I believe we're the only STR in there…but the fact that we live in the home and people are coming into our home and staying with us, it reduces a lot of the other problems and concerns that other people may have," Gest told KXAN.
What are short-term rental platforms saying?
Several representatives from Expedia Group, the parent company for VRBO, were in attendance or spoke at Tuesday's meeting.
"We were grateful for the extensive stakeholder engagement the entire [city of Austin] team has done so far throughout this process. VRBO is proud to be headquartered in Austin and along with other Expedia group brands, proud to play a key role in Austin's economy...we encourage responsible short-term rental regulations because a diversity of lodging options is an integral part of any thriving tourism ecosystem," Jaclyn Terwey, the regional manager of government affairs for Expedia Group, said during Tuesday's meeting.
Terwey said the rules Austin have so far drafted are "clear and without prohibitive barriers for compliance." Terwey also said the platform is prepared to start collecting Hotel Occupancy Tax, one of the proposed changes, but that they were working with staff to clarify some language in the proposed ordinance.
According to Airbnb, a survey of hosts in Austin from late 2023 to late 2024 showed more than 70% used the extra income they got from hosting to cover personal living costs. More than 50% surveyed told Airbnb that the extra cash helped them stay in their home.
What are the proposed changes?
There are several short-term rental ordinances city staff are putting before the public and city council. The city defines a STR as somewhere that is rented out "for periods of less than 30 consecutive days."
Those proposed changes include:
- To operate a STR on a property that has three or fewer units, the license holder must be an individual ("corporations would not be allowed to purchase a property under another LLC and then operate it as a short-term rental," Daniel Word, the assistant director of Austin's Development Services Department, further explained)
- If that individual wants to operate more than one STR in Austin, those rentals would need to be at least 1,000 feet from each other (in the context of apartments or housing with more than four units, a cap of 25% of the units would be placed)
- The changes would require platforms to collect the same tax hotels do, called Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT)
"One of the elements of the ordinance is that the platforms will require hosts to provide the license number in the advertisement, and will de-list properties that are not licensed upon request from the city," Word said.
The city said existing STRs will be allowed to continue under the new rules as long as the properties are not a nuisance and ownership remains the same. That only covers STRs that are currently permitted with the city. There are roughly 2,200 of those right now, Word said.
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