Does Loudoun County's 180-Night Cap Apply to Your Whole-Home Rental?

Thomas Garner
Aug 16
13 min read

Updated: 16 hours ago

A whole house is not a spare room by another name. Loudoun County's short-term rental page at loudoun.gov/shorttermrentals, opened August 16, 2026, treats accessory use as a room or space rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days, and for no more than 180 days in a year, for a charge. Commercial Whole House is a different use. It may need a minor special exception or a special exception. This page will not decide which box your pin is in. It will tell you what the packet actually says and what 180 days does to a model.

AirROI Low is wrong on both town files. Registration by July 1 is free. The zoning permit is $165. Towns may add a layer. HOAs may add a layer. WebLogis comes before any Saturday you plan to sell, including April 18, 2026 at Glenwood Park. Leesburg is not Middleburg. Purcellville is not unincorporated Loudoun. A live calendar is not a cap exemption.

Thepermitpost is the full clerk stack. Themarket reportis 108 Leesburg doors and 44 Middleburg doors, which do not issue paper. This page is the 180-night line, the commercial paper, and the written answer you should have before anyone runs a 280-night year. Ask. Do not infer the use from a photograph of a whole house.

What the county packet actually says

STR, on the county page, is a room or space rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days for a charge. Registration is annual, due by July 1, free, at lfportal.loudoun.gov/Forms/ShortTermRental. Unregistered operation can draw a $500 violation. A zoning permit is required. The fee printed is $165, mailed as a check. The packet asks for a parking drawing with at least one extra off-street space, a floor plan, and septic capacity if the house is not on public sewer.

Accessory use is the 180-day sentence. Fewer than 30 consecutive days. No more than 180 days a year. VA Code 15.2-983 exemptions exist; exempt people still need the zoning permit. This draft will not invent who is exempt. It will repeat the packet: the zoning paper still attaches. TOT is 8 percent. Platforms collect on Airbnb and VRBO. Operators remit on direct. Virginia sales tax is 6 percent. Combined 14 percent is the guest-facing stack this cluster will cite.

The packet does not say that listing an entire dwelling automatically stays accessory. It does not say that listing an entire dwelling automatically becomes Commercial Whole House. Those are the two mistakes this page exists to stop. Pull the pin. Ask the desk. Thestartuppost is the rest of the checks. This section is only what the page already printed.

What Commercial Whole House means

Commercial Whole House is a different use on the county packet, not a nicer accessory form. It may need a minor special exception or a special exception. This draft did not open a hearing calendar, a fee schedule for that exception, or a map of which zoning districts allow it by right. Hedge those. Call Zoning with the WebLogis pin and ask whether the use is even available, and on what paper.

A special exception is public. Neighbors can speak. A buyer who modeled silent 365-night income has not priced a hearing. A host already live on a platform has not priced a cease letter. If you need a year-round whole-house calendar, you are in this paragraph, not in the 180-day paragraph. Do not file accessory and hope the title is close enough. The clerk reads use, not your headline.

Towns may treat whole-house rental differently inside the corporate limit. This page will not invent a Leesburg ordinance or a Middleburg ordinance. loudoun.gov/towns is the directory. Theinvestmentpost is why the use answer belongs in week one. Commercial paper can be the right paper. It is never the assumed paper. Ask one question: is this parcel accessory short-term rental or Commercial Whole House, and what paper do I file?

Towns may add a layer

Middleburg is not Leesburg. Leesburg is not Purcellville. None of those is unincorporated Loudoun. The county page itself points hosts at loudoun.gov/towns. This draft did not open each town code. That hedge is the opposite of a loophole. If the pin is inside a town, the town clerk is a second conversation. A county accessory letter does not retire a town rule the town has not waived in writing.

HOAs are another layer. Covenants can ban short-term rental, lockboxes, or month-long strangers even when the county would allow accessory use. Read the documents. An architectural committee is not Zoning. A Superhost badge does not override a recorded restriction. This page will not invent a county preemption sentence it did not find. Loudoun County's short-term rental page at loudoun.gov/shorttermrentals, opened August 16, 2026, treats accessory use as a room or space rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days, and for no more than 180 days in a year, for a charge.

Health review enters if you serve food as a business. A breakfast plate can become a different license. Keep the welcome book on coffee and send the guest to a tasting room. Thevisitor guidecan name those rooms. Your kitchen should not. Health Department permits appear if you serve food like a B&B. Call them in that order: county zoning, town, HOA, health if you serve food.

WebLogis before the Saturday

Pull the map before you price April 18. Glenwood Park is a Middleburg course on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The race does not change the use on the pin. It only fills a weekend you may or may not be allowed to sell. WebLogis tells you the parcel, the ordinance year, and the first facts Zoning will want. Some maps still sit under the 1972 zoning ordinance — Countryside and Sterling are the named examples — and some sit under the 2023 ordinance.

A 1972-ordinance pin is not a rumor. It is a different text. Do not assume a 2023 handout applies. Do not assume a neighbor's permit applies. Bring the printout to the desk. Ask which ordinance governs the APN. Ask which use attaches. Write down the answer. The Saturday can wait until Monday if the paper is wrong. A race-weekend listing on an ineligible pin is how you buy the expensive problem.

Thehow-to-marketpost can wait until the map is clean. So can the photograph. So can the cleaner. WebLogis is free and faster than a refund. Unincorporated pins still need it. Town pins still need it. The county registration portal does not replace it. WebLogis comes before any Saturday you plan to sell, including April 18, 2026 at Glenwood Park.

How to get a written answer

Ask one question: is this parcel accessory short-term rental or Commercial Whole House, and what paper do I file? Attach the WebLogis printout, the parking drawing, and the floor plan. Mail the $165 if that is the intake they name. Ask how they count a day toward 180. Ask how they count consecutive days against 30. Ask whether a 30-night minimum stay is available on accessory paper. Those are operational questions, not theory.

Get a name. Get an email. A hallway yes is not a file. Thefinancepost is why a lender should see that email next to the two AirROI medians. AirROI Low is not the answer. A live Airbnb calendar is not the answer. Evolve's seven Leesburg doors are not the answer. Middleburg's 0.0 percent PM share is not the answer.

If the pin is in a town, repeat the question at the town desk. If there is an HOA, get the association in writing too. Three nos or three yeses are better than one assumed yes. VA Code 15.2-983 exempt filers still ask the zoning question. Exempt is not silent. VA Code 15.2-983 exemptions exist; exempt people still need the zoning permit.

What 180 days does to a model

One hundred eighty days is half a civil year. It is not a rounding error on a 365-night spreadsheet. If the county counts a booked night as a day, six 30-night stays spend the year. Leesburg already has 35.2 percent of listings on a 30-plus minimum and a 7-night average stay. Mix month stays with wine-trail weekends and you can hit the cap before October. Theremotepost is that product tension.

Peak months do not get extra days. Leesburg's May, August, and October and Middleburg's June, May, and August still come out of the 180 if the use is accessory. A host who sells every peak night and then wants February too may be legal on days and still need to watch the consecutive-stay line. Fewer than 30 consecutive days is the other half of the sentence. Confirm the count.

Revenue math has to follow the days. A named-town AirROI figures as of 2026-07-31 Leesburg median month and a named-town AirROI figures as of 2026-07-31 Middleburg median month already describe typical properties across a full file year. They are not a promise that you can take twelve of those months on accessory paper. Haircut the year. Or change the paper. Or walk. Theshoulderpost is the months you might choose to leave dark on purpose to save days for May.

What this page will not decide

It will not classify your parcel. It will not invent a special-exception fee or a hearing date. It will not invent a town ordinance. It will not tell you a whole-house listing is automatically commercial. It will not tell you a whole-house listing is automatically accessory. It will not treat AirROI Low as the clerk. It will not treat 108 Leesburg listings as 108 permits. It will not treat 44 Middleburg listings as 44 exemptions.

It will not decide how the county counts a day. That is the written question. It will not decide whether a 30-night stay fits fewer than 30 consecutive days. Same question. It will not decide your HOA. It will not midpoint Leesburg and Middleburg into one cap story. The cap is county language. The pin is local.

Theinvestmentpost is who should walk if 180 days cannot carry the note. This page is only the line. Open loudoun.gov/shorttermrentals. Open WebLogis. Write the email. Until the reply arrives, do not run 280 nights. This section is only what the page already printed. This page will not decide your use. This page will not decide your pin.

The only cap sentence

Accessory use on the county packet is fewer than 30 consecutive days and no more than 180 days a year. Commercial Whole House is a different use and may need a special exception. Towns and HOAs may add a layer. WebLogis before the Saturday. Get the use in writing. Haircut any model that assumed 365. This page will not decide your pin.

File July 1. Pay the $165. Ask the question with the map attached. TheDIYpost is why a manager is not a substitute for that email. The only cap sentence is 180 days unless Zoning wrote something else on your APN. Only zoning answers the 180-day question. VA Code 15.2-983 exempt filers still ask the zoning question. This page is the open question that video does not close.

A whole house is still an use question. Listings are not the ordinance. Low is not the ordinance. April 18 is not the ordinance. The packet is. Use it. The county packet this pass opened puts 180 days on Residential Accessory and treats Commercial Whole House as a different use that may need a special exception. Commercial Whole House is a different use on the county packet, not a nicer accessory form.

The county packet this pass opened puts 180 days on Residential Accessory and treats Commercial Whole House as a different use that may need a special exception. Only zoning can label this APN. Use WebLogis. Call the town if the pin is Middleburg, Leesburg, or Purcellville. A 28-night stay still counts. Model the nights the clerk will allow, not the nights a vineyard brochure implies. Get the answer in an email that names this address. This page will not decide your use.

If zoning says accessory, 180 days is the year. If zoning says Commercial Whole House, ask what nights the special exception allows — this pass did not invent a number. If the town adds a rule, the tighter rule wins. HOAs are a third desk. Health Department permits appear if you serve food like a B&B. Confirm or LandMARC. Thestartuppost is the first check. This page is the cap. Do not list until the email names this address.

BPPT still applies whether you are accessory or whole house. March 1 filings still apply. July 1 registration still applies. The $500 fine still applies if you skip registration. None of those desks answer the 180-day question. Only zoning answers the 180-day question. Bring the proposed calendar. Bring whether you live there. Bring the septic capacity if you are on a drainfield — guest count cannot exceed the system. A whole-house party that overloads a septic field is a health-desk problem on top of a zoning problem. Confirm Health if you look like a B&B with food. The county video at loudoun.gov/shorttermrentals is the orientation. This page is the open question that video does not close.

Write the nights. Write whether you live there. Write the septic count. Mail or LandMARC. Wait the thirty days. Do not list in the wait. The open question is not a loophole. It is a desk. Sit at the desk. The only cap sentence is 180 days unless Zoning wrote something else on your APN. Bring whether you live there.

Commercial Whole House is not a nickname for a whole house you live in. Accessory is not a nickname for a basement suite you never use. The labels are county labels. Use them the way the packet uses them. If you do not know which label fits, you do not have a listing yet. You have a pre-application. Schedule it.

Print the live URL loudoun.gov/shorttermrentals in the packet you keep for yourself. Print the LandMARC login. Print the $165. Print July 1. Print March 1. Print the question you still need zoning to answer. That list is the deep-dive. Everything else is commentary. It will repeat the packet: the zoning paper still attaches. Unincorporated pins still need it.

If the town says no and the county says accessory, you still have a town problem. If the HOA says no, you have an HOA problem. Stack the desks. The tightest desk wins. This page will not rank them for you. Call them in that order: county zoning, town, HOA, health if you serve food. Then list, or don't.

A whole-home investor who skips this page and models 365 nights is not aggressive. They are unfinished. The county opened two uses. Accessory has a printed 180-day line. Commercial Whole House has a printed special-exception path. There is no third use called 'Airbnb' on the ordinance. If a seller says everyone lists whole homes year-round, ask for their zoning permit number and their registration confirmation. If they cannot produce both, you are not looking at a comp. You are looking at a risk. Price the risk or walk. Confirm. Confirm LandMARC. Confirm the town. Then write the nights you are actually allowed to sell.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 180-night cap apply if I do not live there?

The county packet this pass opened applies the 180-day line to Short-Term Rental-Residential Accessory. Commercial Whole House is a different use. If you do not live on the property, ask zoning whether you are accessory or Commercial Whole House. Get the answer in writing for this APN. The county packet this pass opened puts 180 days on Residential Accessory and treats Commercial Whole House as a different use that may need a special exception.

Is Commercial Whole House unlimited?

It is a different permit path and may require a minor special exception or special exception. Confirm the 2023 Zoning Ordinance chart on loudoun.gov. Commercial Whole House has a printed special-exception path. If zoning says Commercial Whole House, ask what nights the special exception allows — this pass did not invent a number. Commercial Whole House is a different use and may need a special exception.

Does the cap change inside a town?

Middleburg, Leesburg, and Purcellville are incorporated. County paper is not a town waiver. the town if the pin is Middleburg, Leesburg, or Purcellville. them in that order: county zoning, town, HOA, health if you serve food. A whole-house party that overloads a septic field is a health-desk problem on top of a zoning problem. them in that order: county zoning, town, HOA, health if you serve food.

How do I know which zoning ordinance applies?

Most pins use the 2023 ordinance. The 1972 ordinance still applies in parts of Countryside / Sterling. The application packet changes. Confirm before you mail $165. Some maps still sit under the 1972 zoning ordinance — Countryside and Sterling are the named examples — and some sit under the 2023 ordinance. It will repeat the packet: the zoning paper still attaches.

How do I get a written answer?

LandMARC pre-application or a zoning email that names this address, the proposed nights, and whether you live there. Do not rely on an AirROI Low badge. Get the answer in an email that names this address. Do not list until the email names this address. Write whether you live there. Bring whether you live there.

What does 180 days do to a model?

It is roughly half the calendar. A Leesburg named-town AirROI figures as of 2026-07-31 median month assumed across twelve months is the wrong object if you are accessory. Model the nights the clerk will allow. A named-town AirROI figures as of 2026-07-31 Leesburg median month and a named-town AirROI figures as of 2026-07-31 Middleburg median month already describe typical properties across a full file year.

Is a 28-night stay outside the cap?

A 28-night stay still counts toward the 180-day accessory total if the use is accessory. It is still under 30 consecutive days. A host who sells every peak night and then wants February too may be legal on days and still need to watch the consecutive-stay line. A 28-night stay still counts. It will not decide whether a 30-night stay fits fewer than 30 consecutive days.

Will this page decide your use?

This page names the two categories the county opened. Only zoning can label this APN. Hedge every fee the live form does not print this week. This page will not decide your use. This page will not decide your pin. This page will not decide which box your pin is in. This page will not invent a county preemption sentence it did not find.

Keep going on Crest & Cove:the Crest & Cove intro·local SEO keywords that actually book·the five elements of a converting hero·how to compare STR marketing agencies·Asheville paddling spots worth the drive·this cluster on named-town facts·Destin against AirROI, not leftover year·the last cluster against named-town facts.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Does Loudoun County's 180-Night Cap Apply to Your still has to earn the click against neighbors who already sell the town. Crest & Cove handles photos, copy, and calendars for independent hosts.crestcove.coor(256) 998-7502.