Is short-term rental legal in Boston, MA?
Boston registers STRs in three owner-occupancy categories — Home Share (host present), Limited Share (host away, capped), and Owner-Adjacent (a unit in the owner's 2–3 family home). Investor units are not a category: they are banned.
Rules checked October 2026
Run the Boston verdict on your facts
| What counts as a short-term rental | Boston registers STRs in three owner-occupancy categories — Home Share (host present), Limited Share (host away, capped), and Owner-Adjacent (a unit in the owner's 2–3 family home). Investor units are not a category: they are banned. |
|---|---|
| Permit / license | STR Registration (Home Share / Limited Share / Owner-Adjacent) — issued by City of Boston Inspectional Services |
| Fee | $200 per year registration |
| Renewal | Annual renewal |
| Primary-residence rule | Every category is built on owner occupancy — the unit must be the owner's primary residence (or the adjacent unit in their small building). |
| Whole-home rental | Limited Share (whole-home, host away) is capped at 90 nights per year; Home Share (host present) is not night-capped. |
| Night cap | 90 nights/year (unhosted) |
| Guests / occupancy | Per the registration category |
| Minimum stay | None |
| Zoning | Investor units fail by definition — Boston's categories are the verdict. |
| Density / scarcity | No density cap found in the current rules |
| Fines | Unregistered or investor-unit operation draws fines of $300 per day per violation under the ordinance |
| Taxes | Massachusetts room-occupancy excise + the state STR registry (2019 state law) — two registrations, city and state. |
| Platform duties | Platforms must display registration numbers and delist unregistered units. |
| State layer | No state preemption, but a state layer exists: every STR must register with the state (2019 law) and Boston adds its own registration with owner-occupancy categories that ban investor units. |
What trips hosts in Boston
- Boston is the owner-occupancy archetype: the ordinance doesn't regulate investor STR — it excludes it from the definition of lawful STR.
The private layer still applies
These are the city's rules. Your HOA, condo board, lease or mortgage can say no on top of them — that layer is printed as a warning in the checker, never merged into the city's verdict.
Sources: Boston Mun. Code Ord. 9-14 (STR Ordinance) · City of Boston STR program; Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 64G. Rules checked October 2026.