City officials approved an ordinance to ban short-term rentals (STR), including Airbnb and Vrbo units, in the Home Park neighborhood off campus. The ordinance passed in a 12-2 vote on Aug. 18, making Home Park the first Atlanta neighborhood with a restriction on STRs.
Existing licensed STRs may continue operating, but new ones will not be permitted. The ordinance came after ongoing complaints from homeowners about part-time houses and the growing number of vacation rentals. Supporters argue the ban will protect Home Park residents from being outnumbered. Critics say that the decision is a vital source of income for some and puts the city in a bind ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
Before the vote, Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari expressed that she is cautiously in favor of the ban on Airbnb representatives.
“My concern is not protecting people who own 10 of these,” Bakhtiari said. “My concern is protecting my constituents who have used this to supplement their income. But what we cannot continue to allow is a complete monopolization of housing in the city without any regulations.”
This is not the first attempt to regulate STRs in Atlanta. There was a proposal from 2023, where Councilmember Byron D. Amos tried to pass an ordinance that had strong support from the neighborhood planning unit (NPU-E) and the Zoning Review Board. The proposal called for residents to renew their license annually, keep noise and disturbance expectations, obey occupancy limits, etc. Amos ultimately believes that the legislation is a response to “neighborhood frustrations.”
A 2022 study from Tech described an imbalance between the number of homes in Home Park that are homeowner-occupied compared to those that are rented out. The report recommended limiting STRs to primary residences only, which became the basis for Amos’ 2023 ordinance.
Critics, however, said that the decision is a vital source of income for some and puts the city in a bind ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
An Airbnb spokesperson expressed why STRs are important and said that “By arbitrarily depriving many Atlantans of the ability to generate needed income, this short-term rental ban will exclude community members who rely on short-term rentals from Home Park while slashing more affordable, alternative accommodation options for travelers.”
Other opponents urged the council to find other resolutions than an outright ban.
“The focus should not be on barring Airbnbs that the city needs,” said short-term rental owner Shelley Dean. “Rather than developing a mechanism to punish and close the small number of bad operators that are causing problems.”
Despite the opposition, the majority of the council hopes that this legislation will set a precedent for more housing regulations in other Atlanta neighborhoods.