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Short-term rental permit cost in Houston, TX

Every figure below comes from the city itself, checked 2026-09-23.

Permitted, with conditions
First year
Application fee one-time$275.00
STR permit / registration annual$275.00
Business licencenot verified
Inspectionnot verified
First-year total$550.00
Every year after
Permit renewal annual$275.00
Business licencenot verified
Recurring annual$275.00

Combined lodging tax: not verified for this city yet.

2 figures are not yet verified against the city (Business licence, Inspection). They are left out of the total rather than counted as zero, so the real first-year cost is higher than shown.

Conditions attached

Source: https://www.houstontx.gov/ara/rp/Short-Term-Rental-Ordinance-Adopted.pdf
Checked 2026-09-23 · Chapter 28, Article XXIII

Check with the city before you buy anything. Rules change, and a page that was right last month can be wrong today. This is a starting point for the right questions, not legal advice.