The Short-Term Rental Fight Florida Lawmakers Won't Let Go Of — and What It Means for Orlando Investors

Short-term rental regulation in Central Florida gets discussed like it's a settled question — Osceola allows it, Orange doesn't, check your HOA, done. That's a reasonable starting point, and if you want the full zoning-by-zoning breakdown, our Orlando short-term rental rules guide and STR investment guide cover that in detail.

What those posts don't cover — because it's a genuinely current, still-unresolved story — is the state-level fight over who gets to make these rules in the first place, and the fact that the underlying STR market itself just posted a data trend worth understanding before you assume the 2022-era investment math still applies.

Florida Has Tried Twice to Take Local STR Control Away — and Failed Twice

The baseline hasn't changed since 2011: Florida cities and counties cannot ban short-term rentals outright or regulate the frequency or duration of stays, unless their specific ordinance predates June 1, 2011. That grandfather-clause framework, per STR Law Map's Florida summary, is why Orlando-area investors so often hear "Florida preempts local STR bans" — it's true, but only for that narrow slice of local power. Cities and counties retain other tools: zoning, licensing, registration, and taxation.

The legislature has repeatedly tried to go further and strip local governments of those remaining tools too. CS/SB 280 (2024) passed the Florida Senate 23-16 and the House 60-51 — and was vetoed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 27, 2024, according to the Governor's Office press release. The bill would have shifted STR oversight to the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation and eliminated most local ordinance authority beyond the 2011 baseline.

A follow-up effort in the 2026 session (HB 79) advanced through the House, but its Senate companion died in committee in March 2026 — meaning no new statewide preemption law has passed as of this writing, per StaySTRA's 2026 Florida STR law tracker.

The practical takeaway for investors isn't "this will never happen" — it's that this specific fight has now failed twice in three legislative sessions, on almost the same terms each time, largely because of local-government opposition to losing zoning control. That's a meaningfully different signal than a bill that's steadily gaining momentum. It's worth watching every session, but it shouldn't be driving your buying decision today the way a genuinely imminent statewide override would.

Orange County and Osceola County Remain on Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Orange County permits short-term rentals only in C-1, C-2, and C-3 commercial zones, I-1A through I-4 industrial zones, or Planned Developments where STR use is expressly authorized — standard residential zoning does not qualify, per Steadily's 2026 Orlando STR law summary. Within the City of Orlando specifically, Ordinance No. 2022-45 goes further, permitting only owner-occupied "home-share" rentals (owner must reside in the home more than half the year), capped at four guests, with a $275 first-year registration fee.

Osceola County takes the opposite approach: it licenses and taxes STRs rather than largely prohibiting them, restricting the use to designated tourist zones under its Land Development Code, per TrueNorth Managed's Osceola County regulatory summary. A property rented 30 days or fewer more than three times a year requires both a state DBPR license and a county STR license — roughly $410 to initially license, $150/year to renew — and unlicensed operation can draw fines up to $500 per day. Add the county's 6% Tourist Development Tax on top of state sales tax, and the combined tax burden on a licensed Osceola STR runs approximately 13.5%.

This is the structural reason nearly all of Central Florida's purpose-built vacation-rental resort communities — Reunion Resort, ChampionsGate, Solterra, Solara — sit in Osceola County rather than Orange, even though both counties border the same theme park corridor.

One caveat worth flagging plainly: Florida's zoning preemption doesn't reach HOA and condo governing documents. Those are private contracts, and they can restrict or ban STRs even where county zoning fully permits them, per TrueNorth Managed's HOA guidance. ChampionsGate's North Village HOA, for example, passed a 2024 amendment barring new STR operators while grandfathering existing ones — read the specific community's declaration before assuming a zoning map settles the question.

The Market Itself Is Sending a Different Signal Than the Regulatory Fight

Orlando had 15,067 active short-term rental listings as of June 2026, down 10.3% year-over-year — while trailing-twelve-month revenue rose 8.9% and occupancy climbed 3.2% over the same period, with an average daily rate of $244 and RevPAR of $125, according to AirDNA's Orlando market data (June 2026).

AirDNA's June 2026 Orlando data shows active STR listings down 10.3% year-over-year even as trailing-twelve-month revenue rose 8.9% and occupancy rose 3.2% — a market shedding weaker, oversaturated inventory from the pandemic-era boom while remaining, better-positioned listings capture more revenue per property.

That combination — a shrinking listing count alongside rising revenue per listing — is the real 2026 trend, and it's arguably more relevant to an investor's underwriting than the legislative fight. It suggests the market that overbuilt STR inventory during 2020-2022 is consolidating: weaker-performing, poorly-managed, or marginally-located listings are exiting, while well-run properties in the right zones are capturing a growing share of stable demand. The average active Orlando STR listing generated roughly $24,700 in trailing-twelve-month revenue on this data, per the same AirDNA figures.

What This Means If You're Underwriting an Orlando STR Deal Right Now

On the regulatory side: don't underwrite a deal assuming imminent statewide preemption is going to override your county's current rules — it's failed twice. Do underwrite based on the specific county, zone, and HOA that apply to the property today, because that framework has been remarkably stable since 2011 even as the legislature has repeatedly tried to change it.

On the market side: the listing-count decline alongside revenue growth means this is not the moment to assume you can list anything, anywhere, and get 2021-era occupancy. It's a market rewarding well-located, well-managed properties in the correctly-zoned areas — Osceola's designated tourist zones, primarily — over speculative purchases in oversaturated or marginally-compliant inventory.

If you're evaluating a specific Osceola or Orange County property for STR income, talk to Ryan directly before you write an offer — zoning verification and HOA document review are two of the most common places STR deals go wrong, and both are checkable before you're under contract. Our STR investment guide walks through cap rate underwriting in more detail once the regulatory question is settled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Florida taking over short-term rental regulation from local governments?

Not yet, despite two attempts. A 2024 bill (SB 280) that would have shifted STR oversight from cities and counties to the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation passed both chambers of the Florida legislature but was vetoed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 27, 2024. A 2026 companion effort (HB 79) advanced in the House, but its Senate companion died in committee in March 2026. As of today, Florida's underlying 2011 preemption framework still applies: local governments can't ban STRs or regulate stay duration/frequency unless their ordinance predates June 1, 2011, but they retain other regulatory authority, including licensing and zoning.

Are short-term rentals allowed in Orange County?

Only in specific zones. Orange County permits short-term rentals (stays of 179 days or fewer) only in C-1, C-2, and C-3 commercial zones, I-1A through I-4 industrial zones, or Planned Developments (PDs) where STR use is expressly authorized. This is significantly more restrictive than Osceola County, and it's the reason most of the Orlando area's STR-heavy resort communities sit in Osceola County rather than Orange.

How does Osceola County regulate short-term rentals?

Osceola County requires both a state DBPR license and a county STR license (roughly $410 for initial licensing, $150/year renewal) for properties rented 30 days or fewer more than three times per year, and restricts STR use to designated tourist zones under its Land Development Code — standard residential zoning prohibits it. Combined with the county's 6% Tourist Development Tax on top of state sales tax, the total tax burden on a licensed Osceola STR runs approximately 13.5%.

Is the Orlando-area short-term rental market growing or shrinking in 2026?

Both, in different ways. AirDNA data shows Orlando's active STR listing count fell 10.3% year-over-year through June 2026 to 15,067 listings — but trailing-twelve-month revenue rose 8.9% and occupancy rose 3.2% over the same period, with an average daily rate of $244 and RevPAR of $125. That combination — fewer listings, more revenue per remaining listing — suggests a market that overbuilt during the pandemic-era boom and is now consolidating around better-performing properties rather than expanding indiscriminately.

Do HOAs matter even where a county allows short-term rentals?

Yes, and this trips up investors constantly. Florida's STR preemption law only governs what cities and counties can do through zoning — it doesn't touch private HOA and condo governing documents (CC&Rs), which can restrict or ban short-term rentals even in areas where local zoning fully permits them. Always read the specific community's declaration of covenants, not just the county zoning map, before buying with STR income in mind. Some resort communities built specifically for STR use, like sections of Reunion Resort and ChampionsGate, have still passed HOA amendments in recent years restricting new STR operators while grandfathering existing ones.

The Bottom Line

The regulatory fight over who controls short-term rentals in Florida is real, recurring, and unresolved — but it's failed twice on nearly identical terms, which should temper how much weight it gets in your underwriting today. The more actionable 2026 trend is happening in the market data itself: Orlando's STR inventory is shrinking while revenue per listing grows, a sign of a market maturing past its pandemic-era overbuild rather than one in decline. Both trends point to the same conclusion for investors — the easy, buy-anything-in-Osceola era is over, and the deals that work now are the ones underwritten carefully against both the current zoning map and the current performance data.