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A day after winning reelection, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval delivered his State of the City address Thursday night, outlining an ambitious agenda centered on housing, infrastructure, public safety, and financial stability.
But while he spoke at length about the city’s urgent need for more affordable housing, one issue remained noticeably absent from the conversation: the growing pressure to revisit Cincinnati’s short-term rental rules.
Neighborhood councils from Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills, Northside, and Mount Adams have all called for tighter oversight of Airbnb-style rentals heading into the holiday travel season. Yet on a night dominated by talk of the housing crisis and development, short-term rentals didn’t receive a single mention.
That silence is striking — and it highlights a widening policy gap as the city works to expand housing options while hundreds of residential units continue operating as short-term rentals.
A Mayor Focused on Housing — and a City Facing an Affordability Crunch
In his address, Pureval described the last four years as a period marked by economic shocks, aging buildings, and lingering inequities, noting that Cincinnati’s recovery “hasn’t been an easy road.” But he emphasized that housing has become the centerpiece of his administration’s next chapter.
Pureval highlighted several major steps the city has taken:
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Creation and expansion of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund
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Partnerships with the Cincinnati Development Fund
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Zoning reforms designed to open the door to more housing types
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The claim that Cincinnati has tripled the rate of new affordable housing construction
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A long-term goal of building 40,000 new housing units
“This is complicated work,” Pureval said, “but out of it came a new system that makes it easier to bring more homes — and more affordable types of homes — to our business districts.”
Given how central housing was to his speech, many neighborhood leaders are wondering why short-term rental policy hasn’t been included in that larger conversation.
What the Current Short-Term Rental Rules Actually Require
Cincinnati’s short-term rental ordinance, found in Cincinnati Municipal Code Chapter 856, hasn’t undergone major changes in several years. The rules focus mostly on registration and taxes, with limited tools addressing neighborhood impact.
The basics of Short-Term Rental:
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All short-term rentals — any residential unit rented for fewer than 30 days — must register with the city.
Read more of the city rules on the City of Cincinnati website.
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Registration is valid for three years and must be displayed in the unit and included in all online listings.
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Operators must pay a 7% excise tax unless the platform collects it automatically. Airbnb, for example, began remitting taxes to the city in 2019.
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Hosts must maintain revenue records and follow occupancy limits.
A detailed summary of these requirements appears in a Cincinnati Bar Association explainer, which notes that the city currently has around 830 registered short-term rental units concentrated in areas like downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills, and Northside.
Airbnb’s own guidance for Cincinnati hosts reinforces these rules and warns that failing to register “may subject you to additional penalties.”
Take a look at the Airbnb site for host rules.
What the Current Rules Don’t Address
While Chapter 856 regulates tax collection and permits, it does not regulate:
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How many short-term rentals can operate on a given block
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How many can exist in a single neighborhood
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Whether investors can operate multiple units
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Whether an on-site or local contact is required
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How quickly the city can act on noise or nuisance complaints
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How STRs intersect with the city’s affordable housing goals
That’s the tension coming from neighborhood councils: as Cincinnati pushes to add tens of thousands of housing units, there is still no policy framework to prevent whole clusters of apartments, condos, or single-family homes from functioning as full-time short-term rentals.
A September 2025 discussion in a Council committee acknowledged these concerns but did not advance any major updates — leaving Cincinnati behind several peer cities that have aggressively reformed their STR rules in response to housing pressures.
What Other Cities Are Doing — and What Cincinnati Could Consider
Cincinnati is not alone in trying to increase housing supply, but many cities have connected the dots between STRs and affordability far more directly.
New York City
Local Law 18 effectively bans non-owner-occupied short-term rentals and requires hosts to be physically present during stays. Enforcement has removed thousands of units from the STR market.
New Orleans
One STR per block in many neighborhoods; strict owner-occupancy requirements; heavy scrutiny on out-of-state owners.
Louisville
Spacing requirements (600 feet between non-owner-occupied STRs), higher registration fees, and conditional-use permits for absentee hosts.
Columbus
Annual permit requirements plus active debates about how to prevent new ADUs (accessory dwelling units) from being converted into short-term rentals instead of long-term housing.
These policies aren’t universally loved — but they represent attempts to align STR rules with housing strategy. As Cincinnati attempts to add 40,000 homes, advocates say ignoring STRs risks undermining those gains.
Neighborhood Pressure Builds Ahead of the Holidays
Heading into the busy Thanksgiving–New Year peak for short-term rentals, several community councils have renewed calls for Council to revisit Chapter 856. Residents in OTR, Mount Adams, Walnut Hills, and the riverfront have raised concerns about:
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Noise and late-night disturbances
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Parking shortages
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Buildings turning into “mini-hotels”
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Out-of-state investors buying up units
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Loss of affordable rental housing
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Lack of enforcement when complaints are filed
Neighborhood leaders argue that Cincinnati needs at least some of the tools other cities use—such as caps, spacing requirements, or owner-occupancy standards—especially if the city is serious about affordability.
A Missing Piece of a Larger Housing Puzzle
Pureval’s speech made one thing clear: housing is at the center of Cincinnati’s future. From zoning changes to transit-oriented development to financial incentives, the mayor laid out a sweeping plan to build more homes across every part of the city.
But as the short-term rental market continues to grow, the question now is whether Cincinnati will bring STR policy into alignment with those housing goals.
If the city is serious about affordability, neighborhood stability, and hitting its 40,000-unit target — the STR conversation may soon become impossible to ignore.
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