Longview Short Term Rental Regulation: A Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Do you own a place in Longview and you're trying to decide whether Airbnb or Vrbo is worth the trouble? Well, the good news is that it's allowed, and not as some narrow exception you have to hunt for. Longview's Unified Development Code permits renting out an entire house or apartment on a nightly basis in essentially every zoning district in the city, from the quietest single-family subdivision to downtown, as long as you register the property first.

That's a genuinely unusual position for a Texas city to be in, so don't mistake it for a free pass. Longview, the seat of Gregg County (a slice of the city also reaches into Harrison County) out in East Texas, still requires you to own the home outright, since a tenant can't sublet it through Airbnb under this ordinance. You'll also need to get the property added to the city's short-term rental registry, keep a current Certificate of Occupancy on file, and renew that registration every May with proof you're paid up on the city's hotel tax and your property taxes. Skip any of that and the city can pull your registration for at least a year.

So here's what this guide walks through: how the registry works in 2026, what Texas layers on top of that since the state doesn't preempt or license anything itself, the two hotel taxes that stack on every booking, and how seriously Longview polices all of it. Every figure below comes straight from the city's own ordinances and its Planning and Zoning Department, checked in July 2026. If you're weighing a Longview property against a market with tighter rules, run both through BNBCalc first.

Starting a Short Term Rental Business in Longview

Running the numbers only matters once you know the rules will let you operate, so start there. The Longview City Council passed Ordinance 4288 on November 12, 2020, which adopted the Unified Development Code and, with it, a registry and a set of standing regulations for two distinct uses.

A Bed and Breakfast is a rental of one to thirty nights where the owner or lessee lives on-site permanently, and it can be a shared room or a single room. A Short-Term Residential Rental is a rental of one to thirty nights of the entire dwelling unit, rented to only one renter at a time. Airbnb, Vrbo and HomeAway listings all fall into this second bucket, and it's the one most hosts reading this want.

Which category you fall into changes how the zoning code treats you. The UDC's Use Chart marks each use "P" for permitted by right or "S" for permitted only after a Specific Use Permit, and the code's own legend spells out exactly what those letters mean:

Zoning district type	Bed and Breakfast	Short-Term Residential Rental
Residential (Agricultural, SF-1 through SF-6, Townhome, Two-Family, Multi-Family)	Specific Use Permit required	Permitted by right
Commercial and downtown (Office, Neighborhood Service, General Retail, C-1, C-2, Central Business, Downtown Transitional)	Permitted by right	Permitted by right

A whole-home listing needs no special hearing anywhere on that table. A Bed and Breakfast needs one in the ten residential districts, probably because the city treats an owner living on-site with paying guests as a bigger neighborhood question than a nightly rental sitting empty most of the year.

Texas itself doesn't touch any of this, mind you. There's no state STR permit, no statewide registry, and per the Texas Municipal League's own legal guidance, no statute that either preempts or authorizes a city to regulate short-term rentals in the first place.

Longview is working entirely from general zoning and police-power authority, the same authority that lets Austin ban most whole-home rentals in single-family zones while Longview permits them outright. That's worth keeping in mind if you're cross-shopping other Texas markets, since a city's freedom to write its own rules cuts both ways. Our Texas short-term rental guide covers that statewide picture in full.

Short Term Rental Licensing Requirement in Longview

Assuming your property clears that zoning table, getting registered is a Planning and Zoning process rather than a zoning-board hearing. You submit an application to Development Services, either dropped off, mailed, or emailed to Planning and Zoning at [email protected], at 410 S. High St., Longview, TX 75601.

Here's the one number I couldn't pin down: the city's own fee schedule doesn't list a specific dollar amount for the short-term rental or bed and breakfast registry application, and the application form itself wasn't reachable to confirm it either. The regulations do say a fee applies, so don't assume it's free. Call Planning and Zoning at 903-237-1072 and get the current figure before you apply, since it's the kind of thing that's cheap to confirm and annoying to guess wrong.

One number I could confirm: the Certificate of Occupancy the ordinance requires runs $30 for a residential property, on the city's fee schedule as of July 2026. That certificate isn't optional. Longview requires you to demonstrate that the unit and property have no outstanding issues tied to taxes, building, electrical, plumbing, fire, health, housing, police, planning, noise, or code enforcement, and the Certificate of Occupancy is how the city documents that you've cleared all of it.

Registration isn't a one-time thing, either. You'll renew it every May and submit proof that you're current on both the city's Hotel Occupancy Tax and your property taxes. The city can also inspect the unit with 24 hours' notice, and if you fall short on any requirement, you get 10 calendar days to fix it before the city moves to suspend or remove you from the registry.

Once removed, a property can't be re-added for at least a year. Grounds for removal include giving false information, breaking any term of the ordinance, paying the hotel tax late, or racking up three complaints from neighboring property owners over noise or traffic within a 24-month stretch.

Required Documents for Longview Short Term Rentals

Since the registry fee is one of the only genuine unknowns here, the rest of the paperwork is still fully documented, so let's get the list straight. Longview's regulations call for:

• Proof of ownership of the residence. This is the piece that rules out subletting: a tenant renting long-term can't turn around and list the unit on Airbnb.
• A Certificate of Occupancy from Development Services, $30 for a residential property, confirming there are no outstanding building, electrical, plumbing, fire, health, housing, police, planning, noise, or code enforcement issues.
• For a Bed and Breakfast specifically, proof that the owner or lessee lives on-site permanently, since that's the entire legal difference between a Bed and Breakfast and a Short-Term Residential Rental.
• Annual renewal documentation each May, showing you're current on the city's Hotel Occupancy Tax and your property taxes.

Do check with Building Inspection before you assume your Certificate of Occupancy is current. Permit Technicians there handle those questions at 903-237-1074, or by email to [email protected], and they're the department that signs off on the certificate your registry application depends on.

Longview Short Term Rental Taxes

Getting the paperwork right matters, since two different governments still want a cut of every booking once you're registered. Two hotel taxes stack on a Longview short-term stay, and they're both flat percentages rather than sliding scales, which at least makes the math simple.

The state's share is the Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax, a flat 6% under Tax Code § 156.052. Airbnb has collected and remitted this automatically since May 1, 2017, and Vrbo has done the same statewide since April 1, 2019, so most hosts booking exclusively through those platforms never touch this piece directly.

The city's share is steeper. Longview's own Hotel Occupancy Tax runs 9%, confirmed in the city's most recent annual HOT report to the Texas Comptroller, which every Texas municipality that levies the tax has to file under Tax Code § 351.009. That report applies to "any building in which members of the public rent sleeping accommodations costing $2 or more per day," and it explicitly names condominiums, apartments, and houses rented for under 30 consecutive days, so a Longview Airbnb is squarely covered.

Combined, a guest pays 15% in hotel taxes on top of the nightly rate. I couldn't confirm that Airbnb or Vrbo collects Longview's 9% city tax automatically the way they handle the state's 6%, and that's worth flagging plainly rather than assuming.

Given that your annual registry renewal specifically requires proof you've paid the city's Hotel Occupancy Tax yourself, the safer assumption is that you're responsible for filing and remitting it directly. That happens through the city's Hotel Occupancy Tax portal, with monthly reports due within a month of the collection date. Do confirm your specific setup with Planning and Zoning rather than assuming your platform has it covered.

Longview doesn't add a separate general sales tax on top of either hotel tax; Texas taxes short-term lodging through the Hotel Occupancy Tax framework rather than through sales tax. And if you're running the rental through an LLC rather than as an individual, keep in mind the Texas franchise tax can apply to the entity, though most small operators fall under its no-tax-due threshold.

Longview-wide Short Term Rental Rules

Assuming you're square on both tax layers, the operating rules below apply the same way whether you're renting a spare room downtown or a whole house off Highway 80. A Short-Term Residential Rental can't be rented to more than one renter at a time, no matter how many bedrooms the house has, and no single booking can run longer than 30 days. That 30-day line matters twice over, since it's also the point at which a stay stops counting as a "hotel" for tax purposes under state law.

Parking has its own formula, and it's worth checking against your specific property. A Short-Term Residential Rental needs 2 spaces for the structure itself, plus 0.5 additional space per guestroom. A Bed and Breakfast needs the same 2 spaces for the structure, plus a full additional space per guestroom, which tracks with it being a more intensive, owner-plus-guest use.

Keep in mind that I found no explicit maximum-occupant or guests-per-bedroom cap in either the ordinance or the city's summary of it, beyond the one-renter-at-a-time rule for whole-home rentals. That doesn't mean anything goes: the Certificate of Occupancy process still routes the property through the city's building and fire code review, which is where an occupancy load would get set for the structure itself.

Enforcement leans on complaints rather than patrols. Three complaints from neighboring property owners about excessive noise or traffic within a 24-month period is enough to put your registration at risk, and the city can inspect with 24 hours' notice at any time. Watch out for the penalty structure that sits underneath all of this: under the UDC's general violations section, zoning, fire safety, and public-health violations carry fines of up to $2,000 per violation, and everything else tops out at $500, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense.

Does Longview strictly enforce STR rules?

That $2,000-a-day ceiling sounds aggressive on paper, so the real question is how often Longview actually reaches for it. Honestly, I couldn't find published enforcement numbers for Longview specifically: no public registry count, no violation log, no news coverage of citations or lawsuits tied to short-term rentals here. That's a real gap in what I can tell you, and it's worth being upfront about rather than guessing at a number.

What is confirmed is the mechanism, and it's a lighter touch than what a city like New York or Austin runs. Longview doesn't publish a searchable list of registered properties, and there's no platform-side transaction block the way there is in stricter markets. Instead, the system leans on the annual May renewal to force a compliance check, on neighbors to flag problems through the three-complaints trigger, and on the Certificate of Occupancy tying your registration to a real building inspection.

A host who's genuinely square on ownership, taxes, and the Certificate of Occupancy is unlikely to draw attention. One who's ignoring the registry entirely, or who's already been suspended and keeps operating anyway, is looking at a UDC violation on top of losing the registration, and that's where the per-day fines start to bite.

How to Start a Short Term Rental Business in Longview

Everything above points toward one practical order of operations, so here's how to work through it.

1. Check your zoning district against the Use Chart. Confirm whether you need a Specific Use Permit (mainly relevant for a Bed and Breakfast in a residential district) or whether your Short-Term Residential Rental is already permitted by right.
2. Confirm you hold clear ownership of the property. A lease doesn't qualify you, since the ordinance requires proof of ownership.
3. Call Planning and Zoning (903-237-1072) to confirm the current registry fee before you submit anything, since it isn't published.
4. Get your Certificate of Occupancy sorted with Building Inspection (903-237-1074, [email protected]), clearing any outstanding building, fire, health, or code issues first.
5. Submit your application to Development Services, in person, by mail, or by email to [email protected].
6. Set up your parking to match the formula for your use type before you start marketing the listing.
7. Register for and start collecting Longview's Hotel Occupancy Tax, on top of the 6% state tax your booking platform likely already handles.
8. Diarize your May renewal date. Keep proof of hotel tax and property tax payments on hand, since you'll need to produce them every year.

Who to contact in Longview about Short Term Rental Regulations and Zoning?

Whichever step trips you up, three offices between them handle almost everything.

Registration, zoning and the application itself

Longview Planning and Zoning, part of Development Services, administers the registry and fields applications.

• Address: 410 S. High St., Longview, TX 75601 (mailing: P.O. Box 1952, Longview, TX 75606)
• Phone: 903-237-1072
• Email: [email protected]
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Certificate of Occupancy and building questions

Building Inspection handles Certificate of Occupancy questions and the permit side of the process.

• Phone: 903-237-1074
• Email: [email protected]

City hotel occupancy tax

The city's Finance department, listed as the contact on Longview's own annual Hotel Occupancy Tax report, handles city HOT questions.

• Contact: Angela Coen
• Phone: 903-237-5521
• Email: [email protected]

State hotel occupancy tax

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts administers the state's 6% Hotel Occupancy Tax, separate from anything the city collects.

• Phone: 800-252-1385
• Online: the Comptroller's Hotel Occupancy Tax page carries current forms and filing rules

What do Airbnb hosts in Longview on Reddit and Bigger Pockets think about local regulations?

Given how permissive this framework is compared to Austin or Dallas, you might expect a lively investor conversation about it online. Honestly, I didn't find one specific to Longview.

The one relevant BiggerPockets thread I could read directly is general East Texas investing chatter, buy-and-hold single-family and small multifamily deals, with a local broker encouraging newcomers that "the market here in East Texas is still great," but no mention of short-term rental rules at all. I'm not going to invent forum sentiment that isn't there, so take that as an honest gap rather than a survey result.

What I can say editorially is that Longview's setup is the kind of thing investors in stricter Texas metros would probably be pleased to find, if more of them were looking here. A whole-home rental that's permitted by right almost everywhere, with a light annual paperwork check rather than a use-permit hearing, is genuinely rare in this state.

Compare that to a secondary market like the one covered in our Lubbock County guide or the coastal overlay rules in our Galveston County guide, and Longview's registry looks almost quaint by comparison. If you want the revenue numbers behind that opportunity, the Longview market page breaks down what listings in the area are earning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you legally run an Airbnb in Longview in 2026?

Yes. Longview's Unified Development Code permits a Short-Term Residential Rental, an entire dwelling unit rented to one renter at a time, by right in every zoning district in the city, from single-family neighborhoods to downtown. You still have to own the property, register it with the city, keep a current Certificate of Occupancy, and renew the registration every May with proof you're current on the city's hotel tax and your property taxes.

How much does it cost to register a short-term rental in Longview?

Registration requires a fee, but the exact dollar amount isn't published on the city's fee schedule or reachable through its application form. What is published is the Certificate of Occupancy fee the registration depends on, $30 for a residential property. Call Longview Planning and Zoning at 903-237-1072 to confirm the current registry fee before you apply.

What taxes do you pay on a Longview Airbnb?

Two hotel taxes stack on every booking: Texas's flat 6% state Hotel Occupancy Tax, which Airbnb and Vrbo generally collect and remit automatically, and Longview's own 9% city Hotel Occupancy Tax, confirmed in the city's most recent annual report to the Texas Comptroller. That's 15% combined. Whether your platform also collects the city's share isn't confirmed, so plan to register and file it yourself through the city's tax portal unless you verify otherwise.

Does Longview require you to live in the property to run a short-term rental?

No, not for a Short-Term Residential Rental, which is the entire-unit, Airbnb-style use. Owner occupancy is only required for the separate Bed and Breakfast category, where the owner or lessee must live on-site permanently and typically rents out a shared or single room. A whole-home rental doesn't carry that requirement, though it does require the owner to actually hold title to the property.

What happens if you operate a short-term rental in Longview without registering?

The city can suspend or remove a registered property for violations, and continuing to operate after removal counts as its own violation under the Unified Development Code. General UDC penalties run up to $2,000 per violation for zoning, fire safety, and public health issues, and up to $500 for other violations, with each day a violation continues treated as a separate offense. A neighbor complaint is the most likely trigger: three complaints about noise or traffic within 24 months puts a registration at risk.

Last verified: July 2026. Every ordinance, tax rate, state law, and contact detail in this guide links to or comes from its official source.