As of July 3, 2026, Metro Nashville had 6,939 active short-term rental permits in Davidson County — but the breakdown matters more than the headline number. Of those 6,939 active permits, 4,897 are non-owner-occupied (NOOSTR) and 2,042 are owner-occupied (OOSTR). NOOSTR permits, the class Nashville Airbnb investors rely on, are 71% of all active permits. The position this post takes: most of that NOOSTR pool is closed to new entrants, and buyers who do not understand Nashville STR zoning before writing an offer are not making a real estate decision — they are making an expensive zoning mistake.
That is not a scare line. It is a structural fact about how the permit framework operates, and it has direct consequences for every buyer underwriting an investment property in Davidson County right now.
The 2018 Split That Changed Everything
The 2018 phase-out, codified by BL2017-608, restricted new NOOSTR permits to specific zoning districts. Before that legislation, a buyer could purchase a home in standard residential Nashville neighborhoods and operate it as a full non-owner-occupied short-term rental. That window is gone. Metro government stopped issuing nonowner-occupied permits for properties in residential zones on January 1, 2022 — a hard stop that accelerated the earlier 2018 framework and effectively locked most of Nashville's single-family housing stock out of the investor STR game permanently.
New NOO permits are no longer available in residential zoning districts. Specifically, Metro Nashville does not issue new non-owner-occupied permits in AR2A, R, RS, or RM zoned properties. Those four zone classifications cover the overwhelming majority of Nashville's residential parcels — East Nashville bungalows, Sylvan Park ranches, 12 South cottages, The Nations townhomes on RS lots. If you are looking to purchase a home in a typical Nashville neighborhood, such as East Nashville, Germantown, The Nations, Sylvan Park, 12 South, and similar areas with the intention of operating it purely as a short-term rental investment, you will very likely not be able to obtain a new NOO permit.
That is the official language from a Nashville real estate attorney writing in February 2026. It does not leave room for interpretation.
Nashville STR Zoning: Which Districts Are Still Open
The door has not closed entirely. New not owner-occupied permits will only be issued as a use permitted with conditions in MUN and MUN-A, MUL and MUL-A, MUG and MUG-A, MUI and MUI-A, OG, OR20 through OR40-A, ORI and ORI-A, CN and CN-A, CL and CL-A, CS and CS-A, CA, CF, DTC North, DTC South, DTC-West, DTC Central, SCN, SCC and SCR zoning districts. That list comes directly from Metro Nashville's official permit types page.
In plain terms: new NOOSTR permits are available in mixed-use corridors, commercial service zones, office-residential transitions, and the four Downtown Code (DTC) sub-districts. These are not residential zones in the traditional sense. They are the zones where Nashville's development pipeline — condo buildings, townhome communities, mixed-use mid-rises — is being specifically entitled for STR use.
In practice, most Nashville NOOSTR inventory clusters in Germantown townhome developments built under SP zoning (Alora, Lucy), East Nashville Airbnb-permitted buildings along Main Street, Lischey Avenue, and the Five Points corridor (The Jesse, Vibe, Starlet East, Lyric), Downtown boutique and mid-rise developments approved for STR use during entitlement (Heritage at Broadway, Hyve, Allegro, Muse), Midtown new construction with SP-approved STR allowances (VOCE Hotel and Residences), and Music Row developments operating under commercial-mixed zoning (Musica, Raven, Skyline).
Note the pattern. Nearly every one of those products was entitled specifically with STR use in mind. The developer ran the zoning before the project was designed. You are not discovering a workaround — you are buying into a product category that was purpose-built for this use case. That has implications for both price and competition.
For a deeper look at how we evaluate these buildings and the specific metrics that drive acquisition decisions, see our full breakdown on the Nashville short-term rental investment page.
What Specific Plan Zoning Actually Means for Permit Eligibility
One of the most common misreads in the market: buyers assume that if a property sits inside an SP (Specific Plan) zoned development, the NOOSTR permit is automatic. It is not. Permits for Specific Plan zoned properties or properties within a Planned Unit Development will be issued only if allowed by the SP or PUD. Some SP filings explicitly prohibit STR use. Others approve it for some unit types and not others.
Parcel-level zoning verification through Metro Codes is the only reliable source — adjacent parcels with similar appearance can have different eligibility. Two townhomes side by side in the same development can sit on different sub-parcels with different entitlements. This is not theoretical. It happens in mixed-use buildings where ground-floor commercial SP conditions restrict upper-floor unit conversions differently than the residential tower portion.
The verification process is not complicated, but it requires the right questions. Pull the SP approval on Metro's GIS portal. Read the conditions. If STR use was not explicitly approved in the entitlement, do not assume the base zoning grants it. Confirm with Metro Codes before you have a signed contract.
The Non-Transferability Problem Most Buyers Miss
Here is the piece of Nashville STR zoning that causes the most real damage in transactions: permits do not transfer at closing. Permits are annual and generally do not transfer with a property sale. Metro treats a change of ownership as ending the permit, so the buyer must apply for a new one. Because new non-owner-occupied permits are no longer issued in residential zones, a conventional sale of a residential-zone rental can mean the buyer cannot get a permit at all.
Read that last sentence again slowly. A seller who has operated a grandfathered NOOSTR permit in a residential zone since before 2022 can list that property and market it as an STR investment. The moment it closes, the permit dies. The buyer, in a residential zone, cannot obtain a new NOOSTR permit. The investment thesis evaporates at the title table.
Existing NOO permits in residential areas may renew, but they are not transferable when the property sells. The seller's legacy permit has real value — to the seller, for as long as they hold the asset. It has zero transferable value to you as the buyer.
There is a narrow structural workaround that some investors have used: because entities can hold NOOSTR permits, some investors acquire the owning entity itself rather than the real estate, which can leave the permit-holding entity unchanged. Whether that preserves a permit depends on Metro's current rules and how the deal is structured, so confirm it with Metro Codes and your attorney before relying on it. Do not underwrite around that structure unless you have written confirmation from both. It is not a standard due diligence shortcut.
The practical implication for buyers actively searching is straightforward: if you are touring properties in RS7.5, RS10, or any other standard residential zone and the listing markets an existing STR permit as part of the value proposition, your due diligence question is not "does it have a permit?" It is "can I get a permit after I close?" Those are two entirely different questions.
We walk through exactly this kind of pre-offer zoning verification as part of how we advise investors — if you want to understand that process before you start looking, the Costigan Group STR page outlines what our pre-purchase underwriting covers.
Where New Permits Are Available and What They Cost
In the eligible zones, new NOOSTR permits remain obtainable. The fee structure from Metro Nashville is not prohibitive — the annual permit fee is approximately $325. The harder barrier is the product price, not the permit fee. Properties sitting in MUL, MUG, DTC, or CS zoning with verified STR eligibility carry a premium over comparable properties in ineligible zones. The market has priced the zoning.
The market averages $349 per night and 54% occupancy (AirDNA, June 2026), but performance is product-driven: strong 4-bedroom homes near downtown gross $80,000 to $160,000+ per year, while average listings earn near $40,000. That spread is enormous. It means zoning alone does not determine outcome — product type, bedroom count, proximity to Broadway, and amenity profile all move the needle significantly inside the eligible zone.
StaySTRA data shows Nashville has 5,988 active STR listings with a $335 average daily rate and 39% occupancy as of February 2026. Monthly revenue averages $3,512, with top performers at the 90th percentile pulling $7,087. The gap between the median and the 90th percentile is not random. It maps almost perfectly onto product quality — 4-bedroom rooftop-deck townhomes in DTC or MUL zoning outperform 2-bedroom condos in the same corridors by a factor of two or more in gross revenue.
For buyers evaluating Nashville investment property in general — not just STR-specific product — our neighborhood guide covers the full Davidson County geography in terms that help investors match product type to zoning reality.
The 100-Foot Proximity Rule Almost Nobody Reads
Even in an eligible zone, there is one more gate. There is a 100-foot proximity rule for new NOO permits: no new NOO permit within 100 feet of a religious institution, a school or its playground, a park, or a licensed daycare or its playground. Council can grant an exemption only by resolution after a public hearing with 21 affirmative votes.
In a dense urban environment like SoBro, The Gulch, or sections of Germantown, 100 feet is not a large buffer. A property that is correctly zoned MUL and has no prior permit issues can still fail eligibility because a church, community park, or childcare facility sits within the setback. This is a parcel-level check, not a neighborhood-level one. It requires looking at the specific property on the map, not just confirming the zone classification.
Metro Nashville's GIS portal at maps.nashville.gov lets you verify this before you write an offer. Use it.
The Honest Version of What the Supply Picture Looks Like
Metro Nashville has issued 11,157 non-owner-occupied short-term rental permits over time; 4,897 remain active. The rest have expired, been cancelled, or been revoked. That is a 56% persistence rate across the entire history of the program. Some of that attrition is natural — operators exited, properties changed hands, economics didn't work. Some is enforcement. The point is that the active pool is not a stable ceiling that will simply hold at 4,897 indefinitely. When issuance outpaces expirations the active pool grows; when expirations lead it shrinks. In residential zones, no new issuance is possible, so the only direction is attrition.
In eligible zones, new supply can still enter the market through new development entitlements. That is where the runway actually exists — not in existing single-family residential stock, and not in rediscovered grandfathered permits attached to residential parcels that will die at the next closing. The runway is in newly permitted buildings in commercial-mixed corridors, where the developer ran the zoning correctly from the start.
If you are relocating to Nashville and considering an STR as part of your transition strategy — living in the property as your primary residence first, operating it as an owner-occupied rental — the eligibility picture is more forgiving. Owner-occupied permits remain broadly available. If you live in your home and want to rent it or part of it on a short-term basis, you can generally obtain a permit in any zoning district that allows residential use. That is a meaningfully different path, but it requires genuine primary residency — Metro Codes enforcement is active on operators who falsely claim owner-occupied status.
We have been featured for our approach to STR underwriting precisely because we run this verification before any offer is written, not after. The Costigan Group press page covers that in more detail if you want to understand how we approach it.
Before You Write That Offer
Nashville STR zoning does not reward assumptions. It punishes them specifically, expensively, and after closing. The position here is simple: if an investment property's entire value proposition depends on NOOSTR permit eligibility, verify the zone classification, verify the SP or PUD conditions, confirm the 100-foot buffer, and get written confirmation from Metro Codes before you put a dollar of earnest money down. That is not conservative underwriting. That is the minimum viable diligence for this asset class.
If you are underwriting a Nashville STR acquisition and want a team that runs zoning verification before the offer — not as a formality but as a core part of how we work — reach out directly. We use the Costigan Group STR Underwriting Calculator on every deal, and zoning eligibility is the first line item, not the last.
Related reading
- Nashville Short-Term Rental Investment
- Nashville STR Permit Guide: What Buyers Must Verify Before Going Under Contract
- The Complete Nashville Short-Term Rental Investment Guide for 2026: Permits, Underwriting, Neighborhoods, and Exit
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still get a new non-owner-occupied STR permit in Nashville in 2026?
Yes, but only in specific zones. New NOOSTR permits are available only in commercially zoned or mixed-use districts such as MUN, MUL, MUG, DTC, and similar zones. Non-owner-occupied STR permits are no longer issued in residential zones including AR2A, R, RS, and RM. If the property you are considering sits in a standard residential zone, a new NOOSTR permit is not available regardless of what any prior owner operated.
If a Nashville home already has an STR permit, does it transfer when I buy it?
Nashville STR permits do not transfer at sale. The current permit cancels at closing. Whether the buyer can obtain a new permit depends on three factors: zoning, owner-occupancy, and SP or PUD conditions. In an eligible commercial or mixed-use zone, you can apply for a new permit after closing. In a residential zone, you cannot — the permit dies and cannot be reissued to a new owner.
What is the difference between an SP-zoned property and a standard residential STR in Nashville?
A Specific Plan (SP) zoned property was entitled through a custom approval process tied to a specific development. Permits for SP zoned properties or properties within a PUD will be issued only if allowed by the SP or PUD. This means STR eligibility is not automatic — you must read the SP conditions to confirm that short-term rental use was explicitly approved. Some SPs allow it, others prohibit it, and some allow it only for specific unit types within the same building.
What happens if I operate an STR in Nashville without a valid permit?
Renting a property without a permit can result in significant fines and a ban from obtaining future permits. Beyond the financial penalty, the permit may be revoked, whether by a court of proper jurisdiction or by the Department of Codes Administration, upon determination of three violations of any ordinance or law of general application. Metro Nashville enforcement actively monitors online listings against the permit database.
Are there any physical proximity restrictions on where a new STR permit can be issued?
Yes. There is a 100-foot proximity rule for new NOO permits: no new NOO permit can be issued within 100 feet of a religious institution, a school or its playground, a park, or a licensed daycare or its playground. This applies even in otherwise eligible mixed-use or commercial zones. Verify proximity to these uses on Metro Nashville's GIS map before writing an offer on any STR-targeted property.
Can an LLC hold a Nashville NOOSTR permit?
Only a natural person who lives at the property can hold an OOSTR permit; LLCs, corporations, and trusts are not eligible, which is why every entity-held permit is non-owner-occupied. LLCs can hold NOOSTR permits in eligible zones. To qualify for an owner-occupied permit, the owner of the property must permanently reside at the property and be a natural person or persons. LLCs, corporations, trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other entities are ineligible for owner-occupied permits.
What zoning does a Nashville investor need to look for when searching for eligible STR properties?
Target properties in MUL, MUG, MUI, MUN, CS, CA, DTC North, DTC South, DTC West, DTC Central, and certain office-residential transition zones such as OR20 through OR40-A. These are the districts where new NOOSTR permits are issued only as a "use permitted with conditions" in a defined list of 29 commercial-adjacent and downtown-core zoning districts. Always confirm the specific parcel's zone at maps.nashville.gov and follow up directly with Metro Codes, since parcel-level eligibility can differ even within the same building or block.
About The Costigan Group
Jack Costigan is the founder of The Costigan Group at Compass in Nashville, where his team has closed more than $100 million in real estate across Greater Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Specializing in luxury advisory, investment, and short-term rental real estate, Jack is known for a data-driven approach that helps buyers, sellers, and investors understand the numbers, the neighborhood, and the long-term value before making a decision. Featured in Apple News as one of Nashville's most sought-after short-term rental advisors, Jack pairs deep local expertise with modern marketing and a strategy-first approach to real estate. Learn more at thecostigangroup.com.
