Short-Term Rentals in Anne Arundel County, MD

Buy a short-term-rental property in Anne Arundel County and which rulebook applies depends entirely on which side of a municipal line the parcel sits. Inside the City of Annapolis, a new October 2025 ordinance caps short-term rentals at 10% of any given city block and is actively working that number down through a lottery. Everywhere else in the county, a separate, older registration system applies instead -- and the two systems don't talk to each other.

This page covers what's specific to Anne Arundel County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Two separate systems, split by a municipal boundary

Anne Arundel County's general zoning and licensing authority stops at the edge of Annapolis, the incorporated city and county seat that runs its own separate government -- a structural fact covered on our Anne Arundel County hub page. Short-term rentals are a clean, concrete example of what that split actually means in practice: a property inside Annapolis city limits is governed entirely by the city's own short-term-rental ordinance and licensing portal, while a property anywhere else in the county -- unincorporated Anne Arundel, or one of the county's other smaller incorporated towns -- falls under a distinct county-level system codified at Title 13A of the Anne Arundel County Code. The county's own licensing page is explicit that short-term rentals within the City of Annapolis do not register with the county at all; there is no overlap or dual registration to manage, but there is a real risk of applying the wrong rulebook to a parcel if you don't first confirm which jurisdiction actually governs it.

Under the county's Title 13A framework, a dwelling qualifies as a "short-term residential rental" when it's rented out through a hosting platform for no more than 120 consecutive days in a calendar year in exchange for rent. A host may register at most two dwelling units, the minimum booking length is 24 hours, and registration runs $100 for a two-year term, submitted to the county's Department of Inspections and Permits. That's a comparatively light-touch system: a numeric cap on units per host, but no citywide density ceiling on how many STRs can exist on a given street or block.

Annapolis's new 10%-per-block cap, effective October 2025

The City of Annapolis took a fundamentally different, more restrictive approach in October 2025, when its City Council passed Ordinance O-17-25, "Limiting Short-Term Rentals per Blockface." The rule: no new STR license may be issued on a residential "block face" -- one side of a single city block -- once short-term rentals already make up more than 10% of the residential units there, and any block face with fewer than 10 residential units is capped at just one STR license outright, regardless of the percentage math. This is a hard numeric density ceiling on a very small geographic unit, not a citywide cap or a broad zoning-district rule -- meaning saturation on one side of a block doesn't affect eligibility on the opposite side of the same block, but does directly gate whether a new STR license can issue on that specific block face at all.

Existing, already-licensed STRs are not immediately shut down: current holders can renew through November 2027. Starting that same year, though, the city begins an active lottery process specifically designed to bring each over-cap block face down toward the 10% ceiling over time, with renewal priority in that lottery given to owners who are themselves residents of Annapolis or Anne Arundel County -- a detail that could matter directly to an out-of-area investment buyer weighing renewal odds against a local owner-occupant's. The ordinance carves out two exemptions: an STR is not counted toward the cap if the property owner lives on-site (owner-occupied), and the block-face cap does not apply during the Naval Academy's Commissioning Week or the city's spring and fall boat shows, when demand spikes citywide.

What to check before buying a short-term-rental property here

First, confirm which jurisdiction actually governs the specific parcel -- Annapolis city limits or unincorporated Anne Arundel County/another incorporated town -- since the address alone can be misleading and the two systems are entirely separate with no cross-registration. For an Annapolis parcel, ask the city's Department of Planning and Zoning directly for that block face's current STR count relative to the 10% threshold before assuming a new license is obtainable at all; the city's own annual STR staff report and citizen self-service portal are the places to check current saturation, and a block already over the cap may mean no new license is available regardless of price or intent, only a lottery-based path once the 2027 transition begins. For a county (non-Annapolis) parcel, confirm the two-unit-per-host registration limit doesn't already bind you if you own or plan to own other STRs in the county, and budget for the $100 two-year Title 13A registration fee as a routine, minor cost rather than a barrier.

Because Annapolis's cap is brand new as of this research pass (October 2025) and its lottery mechanics don't take effect until November 2027, treat any current characterization of "how easy it is to get a new Annapolis STR license" as a fast-moving target that should be reconfirmed directly with the city rather than assumed from general market reporting -- and note that HOA or condominium-association rules, where applicable, can independently restrict or ban short-term rentals on top of whichever government rulebook applies.

Short-Term Rentals in Anne Arundel County, Maryland: Two Rulebooks, One County

Two separate systems, split by a municipal boundary

Annapolis's new 10%-per-block cap, effective October 2025

What to check before buying a short-term-rental property here

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