Short-Term Rentals

A short-term rental is a residential dwelling (house) that is rented to a visitor (or "transient occupant") for fewer than 30 consecutive days. A short-term rental can include an entire house, or only a portion of the structure, like a room. These are sometimes referred to as "short-term vacation rentals."

A short-term rental includes both hosted rentals (where the host is present in the residential structure that is being rented) and non-hosted rentals (where the host is not present in the residential structure that is being rented).

You may be more familiar with words or companies such as "Airbnb" or "Vrbo" - these are company website where people list short-term vacation rentals.

Your property may be eligible to be a Short-Term Rental Permit if:

• You are the permanent resident (owner or tenant) of the proposed short-term rental. If you are the tenant, you must submit a notarized letter of authorization from the property owner to rent the structure as a short-term rental.
• Your proposed short-term rental use is for an existing single-family home. Multi-family units and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are not eligible.
• You are applying for only one short-term rental permit. You may only have one short-term rental per single-family dwelling unit per lot.
• You can provide at least one off-street parking space for use by your short-term renters (this can be in your garage or driveway).
• You have a local contact person who will be available to respond within one hour to any issues that arise whenever the unit is rented and occupied.
• You have a valid business license from the City of South San Francisco. 
• Short-term rentals are permitted by the terms of any of your applicable lease agreements such as HOA bylaws; covenants, conditions, and restrictions; etc. 

Yes. You need a "Short-Term Rental Permit” to operate a short-term rental in the City of South San Francisco. This permit is required to rent out a residential dwelling, or part of the residential dwelling, for fewer than 30 consecutive days. You cannot rent out a short-term rental for longer than 30 days. 

• Click here for the Short-Term Rental Permit Application(PDF, 311KB).
• Once you have filled out the application, you may submit it through the City's Permitting Portal which can be found here: https://permits.ssf.net/
• Your Short-Term Rental Permit will need to be renewed annually, before January 1st of each year. 

Yes. You must have a valid business license from the City of South San Francisco in order to operate your short-term rental, per SSFMC Chapter 6.12.

• You must obtain a business license from the City before the City will approve your Short-Term Rental Permit.
• For information on how to get a business license, click here.
• Your business license must be renewed annually, before January 1^st of each year. 

Yes. You must pay all City taxes, per SSFMC Chapter 4.20. Taxes include, but are not limited to: Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) and Conference Center Taxes (CCT). You can find additional information on the permit and tax requirements by clicking here. For information on how to pay the TOT and CCT taxes, click here. 

Short-Term Rental Permits must be renewed annually. To renew the permit, you must pay a fee to the City of South San Francisco by January 1st of each year.

To pay online, please visit https://permits.ssf.net/ to create an account and pay the annual Short-Term Vacation Rental Permit fee associated with your permit.

If your short-term rental is approved as a hosted rental (which means the host stays onsite), then:

• At one time, you may only rent your unit to a maximum of two (2) people.
• There is no cap on the total number of days that you may rent out your unit.

If your short-term rental is approved as a non-hosted rental (which means the host does not stay onsite), then:

• At one time, you may only rent your unit to a maximum of two (2) people per bedroom and two (2) additional people.
• You may rent your unit for a total of 90 days over the next year (i.e., the term of this permit). 

Your short-term rental must also meet the requirements of Section 20.330.004: Required Parking Spaces (click here). Short-term rentals are required to have one (1) designated off-street parking space for the renters. This means the designated parking space cannot be on the street. 

Your short-term rental must meet all requirements of the South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 20.350.037: Short-Term Vacation Rentals (click here). This includes requirements about noise, conduct of the renters, safety measures for the unit, sharing health and safety information with renters, prohibition of commercial activities, and advertising the unit. 

For questions, please reach out to the Planning Division at planning@ssf.net or 650-877-8535.