Chatham County Caps Investor STRs at 5%: What It Means Near Savannah

If you own or are eyeing an investor-operated short-term rental near Savannah, Chatham County just drew a hard line. Commissioners voted unanimously on September 25, 2026 to cap non-owner-occupied STRs at 5% in designated neighborhoods, ending a moratorium and replacing uncertainty with a strict numerical ceiling. For anyone who does not live in the property they rent out, that cap is the number that now controls whether you can legally operate at all.

What the Rule Actually Does

The ordinance targets investor-owned rentals specifically. Owner-occupied hosts are not the focus here. The restriction limits the share of non-owner-occupied STR properties allowed in specific designated neighborhoods to no more than 5% of the total. That means in a block or district where the cap is already met, a new investor-owned listing simply cannot be permitted, regardless of how well the property is managed or how much the owner is willing to pay.

The vote was unanimous, which signals this is not a close call politically. Chatham County commissioners were aligned, and there is no indication of a pending legal challenge or reversal. This rule is in effect.

The Number That Matters Before You Buy

Five percent sounds like a small slice, and in denser neighborhoods it is. In a designated area with a significant number of housing units, only a handful of non-owner-occupied STRs are permitted. If those slots are already filled, you are locked out until an existing operator exits. There is no waitlist mechanism described in the available reporting, which means buyers who close on a property assuming they can run it as an investor STR could find themselves holding an unpermittable asset.

The practical advice from the source is blunt: check the cap math before you buy anywhere near Savannah. That means contacting Chatham County directly to confirm how many non-owner-occupied permits have already been issued in the specific neighborhood you are targeting, before you make an offer, not after.

Context: Rates Are Already Working Against Investors

The timing compounds the pressure on investor-buyers. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate for the week of September 24, 2026 came in at 7.03%, up from 6.95% the prior week and 6.30% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac's survey. Every deal that penciled at lower rates gets thinner at current levels. Add a regulatory cap that could make a property unpermittable as a non-owner-occupied STR, and the due diligence bar near Savannah just got significantly higher.

Investor math near Savannah now has two layers of risk: financing costs that have climbed sharply over the past year, and a neighborhood-level permit ceiling that can close the door entirely on non-owner-occupied operation.

What Hosts and Buyers Should Do Now

• Confirm with Chatham County whether the specific neighborhood you are targeting is a designated area under the new ordinance.
• Ask how many of the 5% non-owner-occupied slots in that neighborhood are already occupied before making any purchase decision.
• If you are an existing non-owner-occupied operator, verify your permit status and whether the new rules require any re-registration or compliance filing now that the moratorium has ended.
• Do not rely on a seller's representation that a property is STR-eligible. Get the zoning and permit status confirmed in writing from the county.

The Bigger Picture

Chatham County is not alone in moving toward neighborhood-level density caps for investor STRs. This kind of percentage-based restriction is increasingly the tool local governments reach for when they want to limit STR concentration without banning them outright. It is surgical enough to survive legal scrutiny in many jurisdictions while being restrictive enough to meaningfully limit investor activity in popular areas. For hosts who live in their properties, the rule is largely a non-issue. For investors, it is a fundamental change to how the Savannah-area market works.

For the complete Gatlinburg compliance guide including tax calculator, checklist, and daily monitoring, see Gatlinburg, TN STR Regulations.