St. Cloud, FL short-term rental rules
St. Cloud lists short-term rental only as a conditional use in its two Central Business District zones; no residential zoning district lists it, and unlisted uses are prohibited.
Does this apply to you?
Zone-limited · No registration program or cap exists; the use is available only through conditional-use approval on CBD-1 or CBD-2 parcels.
- restricted
Renting your primary residence
You live there and rent a room, or the whole home while you are away.
Not in a residential zone. The R-E, R-1, R-1A and R-1B single-family districts allow only the uses listed in their use table, and short-term rental (defined as lodging for less than 30 consecutive days) is not among them; the same is true of the R-2, R-3 and R-4 tables. Living in the home does not create an exception, and the accessory-dwelling-unit rule expressly bars short-term rental of either the ADU or the main house. The only place the use appears is as a conditional use in the CBD-1 and CBD-2 downtown commercial districts.
Verified 2026-09-05 · St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.5.1 R-E, R-1, R-1A and R-1B Single-Family Dwelling District (Municode) · St. Cloud Land Development Code Chapter 8 Terms, Definitions, and Word Usage (Municode) · St. Cloud Land Development Code Article 14 Use Regulations — accessory dwelling units (Municode)
What the source says
Permitted uses. Only the following uses are permitted in this zoning district as follows:
— St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.5.1 R-E, R-1, R-1A and R-1B Single-Family Dwelling District (Municode)Short-term rental. Any dwelling or portion thereof that is available for use or is used for accommodations or lodging of guests paying a fee or other compensation for a period of less than 30 consecutive days.
— St. Cloud Land Development Code Chapter 8 Terms, Definitions, and Word Usage (Municode)Nothing herein shall authorize or permit rental or leasing of the primary structure or ADU as a short-term rental (30 consecutive days or less).
— St. Cloud Land Development Code Article 14 Use Regulations — accessory dwelling units (Municode)
- restricted
Whole-home investment property
You do not live there; the unit is rented short-term full time.
Not in residential neighborhoods. The commercial use table (§ 3.6.7, adopted November 13, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-79) lists Short-term rental (residential) as a conditional use only in CBD-1 and CBD-2, with hotels and transient lodging establishments permitted or conditional in HB, BC, CBD-1, CBD-2 and EC; every residential district omits the use, and the code states that a use listed with neither a P nor a C is prohibited. An investor would need a downtown CBD parcel and city council conditional-use approval under § 3.14.7, plus a Landlord Business Tax Receipt from the city and a Florida DBPR vacation-rental license.
Verified 2026-09-05 · St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.6.7 Permitted uses in commercial districts (Municode) · St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.14.7 Requirements for approval of transient lodging establishment units (Municode) · City of St. Cloud — Landlord BTR
What the source says
The following is a listing of uses permitted in the commercial zoning districts. Each use is listed with a "P" for permitted by-right, or "C" for conditional use within each zoning district column. Those uses listed in zoning district's column with neither a "P" or "C" shall be considered prohibited.
— St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.6.7 Permitted uses in commercial districts (Municode)The transient lodging establishment uses are located on a site which is physically separate from permanent residential uses by recreational amenities, major collector or arterial roadways, or open space.
— St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.14.7 Requirements for approval of transient lodging establishment units (Municode)Any person or entity owning property within the city limits of St. Cloud who rents or leases said property shall obtain a Local Business Tax Receipt.
— City of St. Cloud — Landlord BTR
- Not reviewed yet
Tenant subletting short-term
You rent the home and want to host guests with landlord consent.
We have not yet reviewed whether a tenant can operate a short-term rental in St. Cloud.
STR Law Map is a reference, not a law firm. Nothing here is legal advice. Rules change — confirm current requirements with the city before operating.
Which government controls the parcel
Applies only to parcels inside the City of St. Cloud city limits in eastern Osceola County. It does NOT cover unincorporated Osceola County parcels with a St. Cloud mailing address (much of the Narcoossee corridor and Harmony area), which follow the county Land Development Code, and it does not cover the City of Kissimmee. Check the Osceola County Property Appraiser parcel record for the municipality field, or ask the St. Cloud Zoning Division, before relying on this record.
For the whole market — every jurisdiction that gets marketed under the same name — read the Orlando / Kissimmee guide.
The rules
The City of St. Cloud is the most restrictive of the three Osceola County jurisdictions. Its Land Development Code defines a short-term rental as any dwelling rented for less than 30 consecutive days, and the only zoning columns that list the use are CBD-1 and CBD-2, the two downtown Central Business District zones, where it is a conditional use. The single-family districts (R-E, R-1, R-1A, R-1B), the R-2 and R-2A districts, and the R-3 and R-4 multifamily districts each state that only the listed uses are permitted, and short-term rental is not on those lists. In practice a whole-home or owner-occupied Airbnb in an ordinary St. Cloud neighborhood is not a lawful use.
There is no city short-term rental registration or permit. A downtown CBD parcel would need conditional-use approval reviewed by the planning commission and approved by city council under § 3.14.7, which requires the whole structure to be used for transient lodging, direct access to an arterial street, and physical separation from permanent residential uses. Separately, any owner who rents property inside city limits must hold a Landlord Business Tax Receipt from Community Development (application, staff review, fee assessed per owner; the fee amount is on the city application packet, not stated on the web page). A Florida DBPR vacation-rental license under Chapter 509 and an Osceola County Business Tax Receipt are also required by state and county rules.
Lodging tax stacks to 13.5 percent: 6 percent Florida sales tax, the 1.5 percent Osceola County discretionary sales surtax (Florida DOR 2026 DR-15DSS), and the 6 percent Osceola County Tourist Development Tax. The Osceola County Tax Collector states that the county is not contracted with Airbnb, Vrbo, Evolve or other platforms and that owners and agents must collect and remit the 6 percent tourist tax directly to the county.
Preemption is the open question here. Fla. Stat. § 509.032(7)(b) bars local laws adopted after June 1, 2011 from prohibiting vacation rentals, while older ordinances are grandfathered. The current St. Cloud commercial use table was newly added on November 13, 2025 (Ordinance 2025-79) and the residential district tables were amended in 2023 (Ordinance 2023-45); the city's position appears to be that the use was never listed in residential districts and so was never allowed, rather than that a post-2011 ordinance banned it. We could not locate a pre-2011 ordinance text on Municode to confirm the grandfathering, so an owner facing enforcement should ask the city for its ordinance history. The code sets no separate night cap or occupancy limit; enforcement is through the Code Enforcement Board, whose 2023 minutes show cases for using a residential dwelling as a short-term rental.
Not yet reviewed: tenant-operated rentals, the Landlord BTR fee amount (in the city application packet PDF), and whether any planned-unit development in the city carries a specific short-term rental entitlement.
At a glance
| Governing body | City of St. Cloud (municipality) |
|---|---|
| Permit / license | Conditional use in CBD-1/CBD-2 only + Landlord BTR + DBPR license |
| Primary residence | No residence exception — residential zones do not list the use |
| Whole-home investor | No in residential zones — conditional use in CBD-1/CBD-2 only |
| Night cap / minimum stay | None stated (under-30-day rental is the regulated use) |
| Lodging tax | 13.5% (6% state + 1.5% Osceola surtax + 6% Osceola TDT, self-remitted) |
State context: Florida short-term rental laws — preemption, the DBPR license, and what cities may still regulate.
Primary sources
- St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.6.7 Permitted uses in commercial districts (Municode)
- St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.5.1 Single-Family Dwelling Districts (Municode)
- St. Cloud Land Development Code § 3.14.7 Transient lodging establishment units (Municode)
- St. Cloud Land Development Code Chapter 8 Terms, Definitions, and Word Usage (Municode)
- City of St. Cloud — Commercial Uses (zoning use list)
- City of St. Cloud — Landlord BTR
- Osceola County Tax Collector — Tourist Development Tax
- Florida DOR — 2026 Discretionary Sales Surtax (DR-15DSS) (PDF)
- Fla. Stat. § 509.032 (vacation-rental preemption)