Do I need to register a short-term rental in Houston?

Yes. A registration or licence must be in place in Houston before the property is let.

How many nights a year can I let a short-term rental in Houston?

No annual night limit is recorded at this level in Houston.

Is there an accommodation tax on short-term rentals in Houston?

Yes. State Hotel Occupancy Tax at 6% of the booking.

Are local council rules for Houston included here?

Yes. The rules shown for Houston are the ones that bind an operator at this level, last checked 2026-09-01.

Short-term rental rules in Houston

Last checked 2026-09-01. Jurisdiction code US-TX-HOU.

Registration or licence	Required before letting
Night limit	No limit recorded at this level
Accommodation tax	State Hotel Occupancy Tax, 6%

What this means in practice

Texas preempts municipal short-stay regulation, so city-level registration schemes, density caps and owner-occupancy requirements are generally unenforceable. Local taxes are usually unaffected.
Applies to rooms charged at USD 15 or more per night.
County and city lodging taxes usually stack on top of this state rate and are not included here.
Houston requires a certificate of registration for every short-term rental. Ordinance 2025-322 was adopted on 16 April 2025 and took effect at 12:01am on 1 January 2026, with applications accepted from 1 August 2025.
It is unlawful to operate, rent, lease OR ADVERTISE a short-term rental in the city without a valid certificate. Advertising alone is an offence, so taking a listing down is not a defence to having posted it.
You must give your city-issued registration number to the booking platform once you have it.
Penalties are a fine of not less than US$100 and not more than US$500 per violation, and EVERY DAY a violation continues is a separate offence. A run of unregistered days compounds rather than counting once.
From 1 JANUARY 2027 the city will begin notifying platforms to remove listings that lack a certificate. Reporting that delisting began in April 2026 is wrong: the city's own date is 1 January 2027.
Registration can be denied where the application is false, misleading, incorrect or incomplete, or where requested information is not provided. A certificate can also be revoked, and revocation does not replace the fines.
Cuvanti has NOT verified the registration fee, so no amount is shown. The ordinance leaves it to director rule. Check the city's current schedule before budgeting.
A NOTE ON TEXAS PREEMPTION, because it cuts both ways. Texas is recorded as preempting municipal short-stay regulation, and Houston is nonetheless operating this scheme under an ordinance in force. Cuvanti does not decide which prevails. The city issues the penalties, so register.

Cuvanti tracks this for your properties automatically

Night limits count across every channel you are connected to, not one platform at a time, which is the only way the number means anything. Cuvanti warns you before a booking would breach a limit, and tells you when a rule in your market changes.

See how it works

Common questions about short-term rentals in Houston

Do I need to register a short-term rental in Houston?: Yes. A registration or licence must be in place in Houston before the property is let.
How many nights a year can I let a short-term rental in Houston?: No annual night limit is recorded at this level in Houston.
Is there an accommodation tax on short-term rentals in Houston?: Yes. State Hotel Occupancy Tax at 6% of the booking.
Are local council rules for Houston included here?: Yes. The rules shown for Houston are the ones that bind an operator at this level, last checked 2026-09-01.

This is not legal advice. It covers registration, night limits and accommodation taxes for the markets Cuvanti has configured, and does not cover every local rule, including planning controls, building and fire safety requirements, and strata or body corporate by-laws. Check your own obligations with a local adviser before you let.