FAQs & Other Info

Overview

The City of Charleston passed an Ordinance to regulate short term rentals STRs in all areas of the city, which took effect on July 10th, 2018. Read the ordinance here.

Questions? 

Check out our FAQs Sheet

Short Term Rental 9 Month Ordinance Review

View the February 7, 2019 Short Term Rental Ordinance Review Public Forum Presentation (PDF).

Zoning and Application Review Fee

There is a $200 zoning and application review fee that is collected at the time of application submission.

Fire Inspection and Plan Review

The Fire inspection and plan review includes a $40 base inspection fee, a $32.21 plan review fee, plus an additional $32.61 per number of floors in the unit being inspected. These fees will be collected when the permit is received.

Business License

There is a $64 base fee for a City of Charleston business license, plus $3.90 per additional $1,000 of expected income. The business license fee will be collected when the permit is received. Review more information about business licenses.

Accommodations Tax

Short term rental operators must collect accommodations taxes. Even if you hire a property manager, you as the property owner are ultimately responsible for collecting these taxes from the renters and submitting them to the appropriate state and local agencies. Review more information about accommodations tax.       

Applying Online

If applying online use the Internet Google internet browser and remember to upload the appropriate attachments before submitting your application. Failing to do so can slow down the review process for your application. Please see our Permit Submission User Guide for step by step instructions on how to apply online.

Did you know? 

You can search for active permits using the permit search option on the Citizen Self Service (CSS) Portal.  You can search by address or permit type. STR permits are categorized as operational permits.