Narragansett, RI Airbnb & Short-Term Rental Regulations 2026

Regulation Overview

South County beach town popular with Providence/Boston vacationers; a 2024 ordinance tried to cap permits and impose a 7-night minimum, but litigation has frozen enforcement, leaving the market in legal limbo for investors.

The adopted ordinance imposes a hard, declining numeric permit cap (1,100 to 900) and a 7-night minimum stay, though a preliminary injunction currently blocks enforcement of both provisions pending litigation.

Rhode Island State Law

State preemption: No broad state preemption found; RI sets a mandatory statewide STR registration floor via DBR, but municipalities (Newport, Narragansett, New Shoreham) layer their own permits/zoning on top, which is being actively litigated on home-rule grounds in Narragansett.

Statewide rules: Any STR listed on a third-party hosting platform (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) must register with the RI Dept. of Business Regulation (DBR) under R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-63.1-14 and Reg. 230-RICR-30-20-4. Fee is $25/year with no owner-occupancy or seasonal exemption; apply via elicensing.ri.gov. The DBR registration number and expiration must appear on the platform listing. ADUs have been barred from STR/transient use since June 25, 2024. Civil penalties for failure to register: $250 (first 30 days), $500 (31-60 days), $1,000 (60+ days).

Taxes: Through 12/31/2025: room-only rentals pay 7% state sales tax + 5% state hotel tax + 1% local hotel tax (13% total); whole-home STRs pay 7% sales tax + 1% local hotel tax (8% total). Effective 1/1/2026, the local hotel tax doubles to 2% and a new 5% tax on whole-home STRs is added, bringing both room and whole-home rentals to a combined 14% state+local lodging tax. Newport separately levies its own 6% municipal rooms tax on top of state rates.

2025–2026 legislation: The RI lodging-tax restructuring effective January 1, 2026 (new whole-home STR tax + doubled local hotel tax) is the main dated 2026 change found. No additional statewide STR-preemption or registry bill beyond the existing DBR registration law was identified.

Narragansett Rules

Governing jurisdiction: Town of Narragansett Council, plus RI DBR state registration.

• Narragansett's 2024 ordinance set a declining short-term-rental permit cap: 1,100 permits, dropping to 1,000 for the year starting September 2025 and 900 starting September 2026.
• The ordinance also imposed a 7-consecutive-night minimum stay and required building/fire code inspections plus minimum square footage and parking.
• A group of landlords (Narragansett 2100) sued in July 2024 arguing the ordinance violates home-rule constitutional limits; a Rhode Island Superior Court judge granted a TRO and then a preliminary injunction in October 2024.
• That injunction has continued to block enforcement of the cap and minimum-stay rules, meaning the practical rules on the ground differ from the ordinance text — verify current status before buying on the assumption of either scenario.
• All STRs still need the separate mandatory $25/year RI DBR state registration regardless of the local litigation.
• Narragansett is a South County beach market with strong Providence/Boston weekend demand, but the ongoing legal uncertainty is a material underwriting risk unique to this town.

Not confirmed

We could not verify the following against a primary source. Confirm each with the jurisdiction before you rely on it:

• Current 2026 litigation status beyond what was found (the case may have progressed further since this research)
• Whether any permits have actually been capped or denied in practice
• Exact permit fee amount
• Whether an owner-occupancy requirement exists in the ordinance

Buyer Due Diligence Checklist

Before you write an offer on a short-term rental here:

• Get a written determination from the governing jurisdiction for the specific parcel. Verbal guidance from anyone else is not diligence.
• Establish which jurisdiction governs — city, town, village and unincorporated county can differ sharply within a few miles.
• Ask whether an existing permit transfers on sale. In many markets it does not, and a listing marketed as a running short-term rental may convey nothing of the sort.
• Read the HOA or condo covenants during your inspection period. Private covenants bind even where the jurisdiction permits the use.
• Model revenue against the legal occupancy cap, not the bedroom count.

Frequently Asked Questions