Maui County Sets new requirements for Short-Term Rental Home (STRH) Permits, ie Vacation Rentals

The county of Maui is trying it’s best to make sure that there is enough housing for the local population. In doing so, it has passed a new regulation that requires the owners of a property to wait 5 years before applying for a short-term rental home permit. This new regulation applies to any property that is not grandfathered in or is not built in a zoning area that allows short term rentals without a permit.

The problem with the law is it doesn’t do much to alleviate the housing shortage for the population that is ever growing and needs housing now. Most of the houses that were used for short-term rentals in Maui were oceanfront or near to the ocean. The people renting those homes for 30,000 or 40,000+ per month are not going to take a 10 million dollar home and rent it for 2,000 or 3,000 to a local person. Those homes need to be a part of the vacation rental market. The new law is a negative for those homeowners as they won’t be able to sell very easily and if the new owner has to buy and hold for 5 years we will lose critical revenue for all the businesses that serve those vacationer goers. Additionally, the County of Maui will lose tax revenues that they could use to invest in improving our schools and infrastructure for our communities. This law did very little to help with housing.

Hopefully changes will be made soon. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that as we get more regulation it doesn’t get worse for the local house owner.

Many condominiums and some homes don’t need a permit, give us a call if you aren’t sure if a property is legally permitted to be a short term rental.