Short-Term Rentals in Vancouver

Consultation has concluded

A key on a house-shaped keychain sits in a door lock

The Vancouver City Council will host a first reading of a revised short-term rental ordinance at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 11. The Council will host a formal public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 18. Both meetings will take place as part of regularly scheduled Council meetings at City Hall, 415 W. 6th Street. Community members are invited to provide public comment on Dec. 11 or testify on Dec. 18.

Over the past six months, City staff have been working to update draft short-term rental regulations, based on City Council feedback. You can view the proposed ordinance, permit application, FAQs and other meeting materials on the City's website.

Ways to Participate

There are multiple ways that you can share feedback with the City Council:

Share Feedback in Writing: Email comments to cmo@cityofvancouver.us by noon on the day of the Council meeting (Dec. 11 or 18). Your comments will be shared with City Council members before each meeting.

Testify Remotely: Register online by noon on the day of the Council meeting by clicking on the "Public Participation" tab and completing the registration form.

Testify In Person: Register online or call the City Manager’s Office at 360-487-8600 by noon on the day of the Council meeting. You can also fill out a speaker request form in person at City Hall by 6:30 p.m.

Watch the Meeting: All City Council meetings are broadcast with live closed captioning on cvtv.org, CVTV cable channels 23 / HD 323, and on the City’s Facebook page, facebook.com/VancouverUS.

Next Steps

We will send a reminder email next week, followed by a more detailed update on Dec. 19. We look forward to sharing more information soon, based on the Council's decision.

Following multiple workshops with the City Council and Planning Commission, City staff have developed draft short-term rental regulations, which are currently available for public comment. We invite you to review the proposed regulations and share your feedback below.

*NOTICE*

The short-term rental public hearing scheduled on July 10th has been postponed. City Council voted on 6/26 to remand the item back to staff, requesting further analysis of impacts from HB 1110 and HB 1337. Learn more about the recent legislation here. This page will be updated once a new public hearing date is scheduled.

Project Background

Currently, the City’s Land Use and Development Code, VMC Chapter 20, does not allow short-term rentals in residential zones. The City is aware that there are roughly 250-350 short-term rentals operating in Vancouver. In February 2022, the City began reaching out to owners of known short-term rentals to advise them of the City's current laws.

Following a housing code workshop on Sept. 9, 2021, the City Council advised staff to monitor the number of short-term rentals and provide an update within a year. Staff presented to Council on June 27, 2022, after conducting regulation research, community outreach, and data gathering.

Since then, the Planning Commission and City Council have held multiple workshops to further inform the development of draft regulations. Review the proposed regulations and share your feedback below

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a short-term rental?

A short-term rental is when you rent your entire home, a room within your home, or a separate guesthouse/Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to individuals for less than 30 days. This includes rentals available on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. Short-term rentals (STRs) are sometimes referred to as “Home Sharing,” and are very popular with travelers. They are viewed as a way for visitors to temporarily feel part of a local neighborhood rather than staying in a hotel or motel situated in a commercial area.
According to RCW 64.37.010(9)(a), a "short-term rental" means a lodging use, that is not a hotel or motel or bed and breakfast, in which a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is offered or provided to a guest by a short-term rental operator for a fee for fewer than thirty consecutive nights.

Does the City of Vancouver allow short-term rentals?

In short, Vancouver currently does not have any regulations regarding short-term rentals, other than commercial lodging. In order for a use to be allowed, the City’s Land Use and Development Code must specifically list the use as allowed in the applicable zoning district.
However, short-term rentals may be approved as a Bed and Breakfast use, which are allowed in residential and commercial zones, subject to certain approvals and limitations.
If a short-term rental is not registered and approved as a Bed and Breakfast, the rental not allowed and would be operating in violation of City code.

What is a bed and breakfast?

A bed and breakfasts provide an alternative form of lodging for visitors who prefer a residential setting. The City’s Development Code considers bed and breakfast establishments as Commercial and Transient Lodging.
The individual or family which operates the bed and breakfast must live at the house and be their primary residence. The house must have been used as a residence for at least a total of five years prior to filing the application for a bed-and- breakfast establishment.
A 1-2 bedroom bed-and-breakfast-establishment is allowed as a limited use in the lower density residential districts and a 3-6 bedroom bed and breakfast establishment is allowed with a conditional use permit in lower density residential districts.
For more information on bed and breakfast regulations, view Ch. 20.830 in the Vancouver Municipal Code

What are the regulations on short-term rentals (VRBO, Airbnb, Etc.)?

Short-term rentals must meet the requirements of a Bed and Breakfast and be approved as one to legally operate within city limits. After reviewing data for Vancouver, the project team believes that most existing short-term rentals do not meet this requirement.
City staff are gathering data from advertised short-term rentals, best practice examples, and research from other jurisdictions to inform potential future changes to City regulation of short-term rentals.
In addition, a community outreach effort is underway to gather public input on potential changes to City regulation of short-term rentals. You will also be able to share your feedback, by completing a communitywide survey that will soon be added to this page.

Is there a fee for short-term rentals that do not qualify as a bed and breakfast?

There are currently no City-specific fees as there is no official allowance or registration process for this type of business. The City is in the process of exploring regulation measures that may require a registration or business license fee.
By state law RCW 64.37, short-term rentals must register with the state and maintain liability insurance.
Short-term rentals or their platforms must also remit applicable local, state and federal taxes. These include occupancy, sales, lodging or other taxes which other forms of lodging are subject to.

How can I report suspected short-term rentals that don’t follow the current rules?

To report suspected short-term rentals, you may call the City’s Code Compliance Hotline at 360-487-7810 or file an online Code Compliance Complaint.

How can issues such as noise, advertising as a “party house” and other concerning issues be reported to the City?

To report suspected short-term rentals, you may call the City’s Code Compliance Hotline at 360-487-7810 or file an online Code Compliance Complaint
If there are any time-sensitive concerning behavioral activity, you may contact Vancouver Police by calling 911 (be sure to specify if it is a non-emergency).

How might the existence of short-term rentals affect the overall availability of housing in our community?

Short-term rentals represent an extremely small percentage of Vancouver's estimated 83,868 housing units, as calculated by the Washington State Office of Financial Management in April 2021. Based on currently available numbers, roughly 0.003% of housing units in the city are being used as short-term rentals.
For several years, Vancouver has experienced a shortage of affordable housing and an overall lack of supply of housing at all price points to accommodate population growth within the city. Several steps have been taken to address these issues, including a voter-approved Affordable Housing Fund to support the development of more affordable units, and changes to City codes to allow for different, smaller, and more affordable housing types.
Often community members have concerns about the affordability impacts of short-term rentals, because rental units dedicated for vacation purposes are not available for longer term residences. The issue of access to long-term housing options is a critical piece of the work underway to understand the impact of short-term rentals and if and how regulations should be updated to allow them beyond the current Bed and Breakfast provisions.