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HEAVILY REGULATEDevery claim verified 2026-07-17 against the sources below

Is a short-term rental legal in Savannah, GA?

Savannah allows short-term vacation rentals (STVRs, whole-dwelling rentals of 30 consecutive days or less) only after the owner obtains both a city business tax certificate and an annual STVR certificate ($400 new application, $250 annual renewal, non-refundable, via the city's Deckard registration portal). In the Downtown (Savannah) Historic District and Victorian District, zoning Sec. 7.5 caps non-owner-occupied STVRs at 20% of residential parcels per ward, and the city states every ward in both districts has reached that cap, so new non-owner-occupied certificates are effectively unavailable there (a first-come, first-served waiting list exists); owner-occupied properties are exempt from the cap, and certificates predating September 28, 2017 are grandfathered for renewal (with a 6-month reapplication window after a title transfer). In the Streetcar district's TN-2 zoning, STVRs are limited to parcels with 2+ dwelling units where one is owner-occupied. Post-9/28/2017 certificates carry occupancy limits of 4 adults for units with up to 2 bedrooms, or 2 adults per bedroom for 3+ bedrooms. Owners must designate a 24-hour local agent who can appear on site within 2 hours, carry insurance evidencing STVR use, notify adjacent owners before initial issuance, and publish the certificate number and exemplar rental agreement in every listing. Violations draw non-waivable fines of $500/$750/$1,000, and three code violations at a property within 12 months triggers revocation and a 12-month application bar (Sec. 8-11017). Guests pay Savannah's 8% hotel/motel excise tax (raised from 6% effective September 1, 2023), 7% combined state and local sales tax, and Georgia's $5-per-night state hotel-motel fee; booking platforms meeting Georgia's marketplace thresholds must collect the sales tax and the $5 fee.

At a glance

Unhosted whole-home rentalConditional
Hosted rental (host present)Conditional
Primary residence requiredNo
Guest capNone verified
Rules apply to stays under31 days

STVR defined as rental of a residential dwelling unit for not more than 30 consecutive days (Sec. 8-11011); stays of 31+ days are outside the ordinance. Certificate required before operating (Sec. 8-11012). Zoning Sec. 7.5 (STVR Overlay District, NewZO effective 9/1/2019): in the Savannah (Downtown) Historic District (7.5.4) and Victorian District (7.5.5), non-owner-occupied STVR use is limited to 20% of residential parcels per ward; the city reports all wards in both districts are at the cap, with a first-come, first-served waiting list. Owner-occupied parcels (homestead exemption or sworn affidavit plus two proofs of residency, per Sec. 8-11011 definition) are exempt from the cap. Grandfathering: certificates/applications filed before 9/28/2017 renew without regard to the cap; on title transfer the new owner has 6 months to reapply cap-exempt (Sec. 8-11012(b)). Streetcar Historic District TN-2 zoning: STVRs only on parcels with 2+ dwelling units, at least one owner-occupied (Sec. 7.5.6). Occupancy for certificates issued after 9/28/2017: max 4 adults for units with up to 2 bedrooms; 2 adults per bedroom for 3+ bedrooms (Secs. 7.5.4-7.5.6) — no fixed citywide guest cap, so max_guests is null. No change to exterior appearance or visible evidence of STVR use permitted in the overlay. Which base zoning districts permit STVR use outside the three overlay districts could not be verified (see needs_review).

What you need to operate

RequirementAuthorityCostOfficial source
Short-Term Vacation Rental Certificate City of Savannah (Tourism Management & Ambassadorship / Planning & Urban Design)
Required before operating (Sec. 8-11012). Applied for annually via the STVR Registration Portal (str.deckard.com/ga-chatham-city_of_savannah). Application under oath includes owner and agent contact info, parking spaces, sworn code compliance verification form, exemplar rental agreement, proof of ownership, and for condominiums a declaration permitting sub-30-day leasing (Sec. 8-11013). Certificate is non-transferable between persons or locations (Sec. 8-11012). Certificate number and exemplar rental agreement must appear in every print/digital advertisement (Sec. 8-11013(d)); certificate copy with agent info, business tax certificate number, max occupancy, and max vehicles must be posted in the unit (Sec. 8-11016). Adjacent property owners must be notified before initial issuance (Sec. 8-11015(a)).
 $400 new application; $250 annual renewal (both non-refundable)
renewal: Annual
 source
Business Tax Certificate City of Savannah Revenue Department
Sec. 8-11012: no person shall rent a dwelling unit as an STVR 'without first obtaining a business tax certificate from the revenue director.' City instructs applicants to obtain the BTC and submit a copy to Planning and Urban Design as part of the STVR certificate process. Fee set by the city's annual revenue ordinance (amount not published on fetched pages).
 Not verified
renewal: Annual
 source
24-hour short-term vacation rental agent City of Savannah (Sec. 8-11014, Code of Ordinances Part 8, Ch. 11)
Owner must designate a natural person 18+ (may be the owner) who is available 24 hours, customarily present within the city, and able to appear on premises within 2 hours of city notification of problems; failure to appear for two or more complaints is grounds for penalties. Agent changes must be reported to the city within 5 business days (Sec. 8-11013(c)).
 Not verified
renewal: Designated on each annual application
 source
Proof of insurance evidencing short-term rental use City of Savannah (Sec. 8-11013(b), Code of Ordinances Part 8, Ch. 11)
Sec. 8-11013(b)(4) requires 'proof of insurance indicating the premises is used as a short-term vacation rental.' City STVR pages confirm it is required for all new and renewing applications. No minimum coverage amount is specified in the ordinance.
 Not verified
renewal: Submitted with each new and renewal application
 source
Code compliance verification form City of Savannah (Secs. 8-11011, 8-11013(b)(1))
Owner-executed sworn certification that the unit complies with applicable zoning, building, health and life safety codes; occupancy is prohibited while the premises is in violation of any such code. Units must be 'properly maintained and regularly inspected by the owner' (Sec. 8-11016(b)) — owner self-inspection, not a city inspection requirement.
 Not verified
renewal: With each annual application
 source

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
City of Savannah Hotel/Motel Excise Tax 8% of lodging charges (raised from 6% effective September 1, 2023, under O.C.G.A. 48-13-51(b)) Stays at STVRs, hotels, and other lodging within the city Not verified source
Georgia state and local sales and use tax 7% combined in Savannah/Chatham County (per city Revenue Department tax page) Short-term lodging charges; remitted to Georgia DOR by the 20th of the following month; payments over $500 must be electronic Yes source
Georgia State Hotel-Motel Fee $5.00 per night per accommodation (O.C.G.A. 48-13-50.3; DOR Rule 560-13-2-.01) Each calendar night an accommodation (including short-term rentals) is rented, until a stay becomes an extended stay rental of 31+ consecutive days; remitted by the 20th of the following month Yes source

Enforcement

PenaltiesSec. 8-11017(e): non-waivable fines of $500 (first violation), $750 (second within 12 months), $1,000 (third within 12 months), combinable with other legal remedies. Three code violations at a property within 12 consecutive months: the city 'shall revoke any pending certificates and reject all applications for the subject premises' for 12 consecutive months (Sec. 8-11017(b)). False application statements are grounds for revocation, suspension, penalties, and denial of future applications (Sec. 8-11015). Citations heard by an STVR staff board or the Recorder's Court of Chatham County; appeals to the city manager within 30 calendar days, with the appeal staying the action (Sec. 8-11017(d),(f),(g)).
Platform liabilityNot verified
NotesCity operates a 24/7 STVR complaint hotline (912-226-0320) and an online Vacation Rental Complaint Portal, plus an STR public portal for checking certificate status. An owner cited for any zoning/building/health/life-safety violation must demonstrate compliance before being eligible for a certificate (Sec. 8-11017(c)). The city code imposes no STR-specific liability on hosting platforms.

Pending changes

What we could not verify (9)

  • library.municode.com returned HTTP 403 to non-browser fetch. Current code text was instead verified via the city's official enCodePlus portal (online.encodeplus.com/regs/savannah-ga), which served full text of Chapter 11 (Secs. 8-11010 to 8-11018, incorporating the 8/3/2017 and 9/28/2017 amendments) and zoning Sec. 7.5 — so this did not block verification, but a reviewer with a browser could confirm municode matches.
  • Whether Airbnb/Vrbo collect and remit Savannah's 8% hotel/motel excise tax: the city's Local & State Taxes page says operators remit to the city Revenue Department by the 20th of the following month and is silent on platforms. Georgia HB 317 (2021) reportedly extended 'innkeeper' duties to marketplaces for local excise taxes as well, but I could not verify local-excise platform collection against an official source I fetched, so collectedByPlatform is null for the city tax.
  • Base zoning districts where STVR use is permitted OUTSIDE the three overlay areas (Downtown Historic, Victorian, Streetcar): the NewZO use tables are ajax-rendered on enCodePlus and could not be extracted. Verified overlay rules (Sec. 7.5) and Chapter 11 do not themselves say STVRs are prohibited elsewhere in the city; reviewer with a headless browser should pull the NewZO permitted-use tables (Chapter 3, effective 9/1/2019, enCodePlus secid 6683) to confirm which base districts allow STVR use, plus the Figure 7.5-1/7.5-2 ward maps.
  • The 7% sales tax figure is the combined rate stated on the city's official tax page; the state (4%) vs. Chatham County local (3%) breakdown was not itemized on any official page I fetched, so only the combined 7% is asserted.
  • Business tax certificate fee amount: set by the city's annual revenue ordinance (per Sec. 8-11013(a) the STVR application fee is too); the revenue ordinance fee schedule itself was not fetched. The $400/$250 STVR fees are from the city's official application page. A $50 zoning verification letter fee is stated on the city's STVR Regulations page.
  • Renewal deadline/cycle date for annual STVR certificates (e.g., calendar-year vs. anniversary renewal) is not stated on the fetched city pages — the portal handles renewals; exact deadline unverified.
  • Georgia statewide STR preemption: searches of 2025-2026 legislative coverage found no state preemption statute or 2025-2026 preemption bill (Georgia localities retain full authority). This is a verified-by-absence conclusion from searches, not from a single official page.
  • No City of Savannah STVR ordinance amendments after the 2017 amendments (and the 2019 NewZO overlay codification) were found in searches or on city pages as of 2026-07-17; the 2023 change was the hotel/motel tax increase to 8%. The city's claim that 'all wards' in the Downtown and Victorian districts are at the 20% cap is from the official STVR Regulations page but ward-level counts change over time — the city's STR Public Portal has current per-ward status.
  • The savannahga.gov FAQ page and the STVR Regulations page's list of exact wards at capacity could not be fully extracted (CivicPlus page rendered minimal text to the fetcher); cap-status claim rests on the fetched summary text of savannahga.gov/2327.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /savannah-ga.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, verified against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between our verification passes. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.