How to Get an Airbnb Permit in Nashville

Work out which permit you need

Metro issues owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied permits (often called Type 1 and Type 2), plus multifamily. Owner-occupied means the owner, a natural person and not an LLC, lives in the home as their residence. If you will not live there, you need a non-owner-occupied permit. Either way, an STR property in Nashville is a dwelling with no more than four sleeping rooms.

Check the zoning before anything else

Look the parcel up on Metro's Parcel Viewer. New non-owner-occupied permits are only issued in non-residential districts: commercial and mixed-use zones such as DTC, MUN, MUL, MUG, MUI, CS, CL, and some SPs that list the use. They are not issued in R, RS, RM, or AR2a residential zones. If the parcel is residential and you will not live there, stop here: that home cannot get an investor permit.

Look it up on Metro's Parcel Viewer. For which neighborhoods tend to fall where, see our Nashville STR investment guide.

Get the safety certification

Since March 1, 2022, single-family and two-family homes need a certification from a Tennessee-licensed architect, engineer, or home inspector that the home meets the STR safety requirements. This replaced the old Codes inspection for these homes. Multifamily units are inspected by the Fire Marshal instead.

Email the application to Metro

Send the completed application and the documents on Metro's current checklist to strpapplications@nashville.gov. The $313 permit fee is due when the application is approved, not when you submit it. Timelines vary; plan for several weeks.

Register for and pay the taxes

Metro's hotel occupancy tax on STRs is 7% of gross receipts plus $2.50 per night (Metro Code 5.10). Tennessee sales tax applies on top: 7% state plus 2.25% local. Airbnb collects some of these for you, but not necessarily all of them, and Vrbo and direct bookings differ. Confirm in writing what each platform remits for you and remit the rest yourself.

List, display, and renew

Put your permit number on every listing. The permit renews every year, and renewal requires proof that you have paid the hotel occupancy tax. The permit is not transferable: if the home is sold, the new owner has to apply for their own permit, and in a residential zone a non-owner-occupied permit will not be issued to them.