Short-term rentals · Woodstock, Ulster County
Can you still get a short-term rental permit in Woodstock, NY?
Possibly, but only the Building Department can tell you whether there's room. Woodstock caps owner-occupied and whole-house short-term rentals alike, the Town Board sets the number, and I couldn't find the current number published anywhere. Two things are clear from the law itself: a whole house you don't live in can be rented no more than 180 days and 26 weekends a year, and an existing registration can transfer to a buyer who applies within 30 days of the sale.
By Ryan Rooney · Published 27 October 2026 · Last checked 27 October 2026 against the text of the town's 2019 short-term rental law and the Town Board's January 2026 fee resolution
Can I get a short-term rental permit in the Town of Woodstock?
Possibly. The town's law has the Town Board cap both owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied short-term rentals, set each year along with the fees. Local reporting put the first cap, in 2019, at 340, later reduced to 285, and a 2023 town task force document said the town was "over what we have authorized as the cap." I couldn't find the current number in anything the town has published, so ask the Building Department whether a registration is available before you count on one.
Can I rent out a whole house in Woodstock without living there?
Yes, under a non-owner-occupied registration, with limits: no more than 180 days a year and no more than 26 weekends, a designated host who lives within 10 miles, a special permit, and one such registration per person. It isn't allowed in the town's FW zoning district.
Does a registration transfer when the house sells?
Under the 2019 law, yes. It says registrations are transferable with a new application, filed within 30 days of the sale. A 2023 town task force recommended ending transfers, but I found no law that did. Confirm with the Building Department before you close.
What does it cost?
The 2026 annual fees, set by the Town Board on 6 January 2026: $250 for an owner-occupied rental inside the home and $350 for an owner-occupied separate unit, each plus $25 per additional bedroom, and $450 for a non-owner-occupied rental plus $50 per additional bedroom.
The three kinds of registration
Woodstock's rules are in its zoning law, §260-56, as amended by Local Law 1 of 2019, which also added the definitions. Every kind needs an annual operating permit from the Building Department.
| Registration | Covers | Limits | Zoning |
|---|---|---|---|
| STR home | Bedrooms in a home, with the owner living on the property | 1 or 2 bedrooms, up to 4 lodgers | Allowed in every district except FW |
| STR establishment | Bedrooms in a home, with the owner living on the property | 3 to 5 bedrooms, up to 10 lodgers | Special permit in the residential districts (R8, R5, R3, R1.5 and HR). Allowed in HC, NC and LI/SLI. Not in FW. |
| STR non-owner-occupied | The whole house, with no owner present | 180 days a year and no more than 26 weekends. A host living within 10 miles. | Special permit in every district where it's allowed. Not in FW. |
Two details in the definitions matter more than they look. A weekend is "any time between Friday evening and Monday morning," and partial weekends count, so a single Saturday night uses one of your 26. In a weekend market like Woodstock, that's usually the limit you hit first, well before 180 days. And the host has to be a designated adult living within 10 miles, so an owner who lives in the city needs someone local named as host.
2026 fees
- Owner-occupied, inside the home: $250 a year, plus $25 per additional bedroom
- Owner-occupied, separate unit: $350, plus $25 per additional bedroom
- Non-owner-occupied: $450, plus $50 per additional bedroom
Those come from the Town Board's organizational meeting on 6 January 2026 (Resolution 46-2026). The Building Department's own fee schedule (Resolution 41-2024) also lists a $50 short-term rental application fee and an operating permit line for residential buildings that mentions short-term rentals. Neither document says how the three combine, so ask for your total in writing.
Rules that apply to every registration
- Only the property owner can register.
- One non-owner-occupied registration per person: an individual can register, or hold an interest in, only one. A corporation whose owners hold interests in more than one short-term rental can't register one in a residential district. The law says "corporation." If you're buying through an LLC, ask how the town applies it.
- Two guests per bedroom, not counting children 12 and under, with the maximum occupancy posted inside.
- One parking space per bedroom, on top of the spaces the house already needs.
- A fire and safety inspection every year, with the report filed with each annual renewal, and compliance with the state building code.
- The town registration number in every listing, print and online, and posted inside. No advertising the rental on site.
- Three or more violations of local laws can lead to the operating permit being revoked.
- Registration with Ulster County comes first, and the town application asks for a copy of it. The county's occupancy tax applies on top.
The cap: what I can and can't tell you
The 2019 law doesn't put a number in its text. It says the Town Board will set caps on both owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied rentals, each year along with the fee schedule. Here is the trail of what's been reported and published since:
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| August 2019 | The Town Board set the first cap: 340 in total, 190 owner-occupied and 150 non-owner-occupied. | Hudson Valley One, 16 August 2019 |
| April 2023 | The cap had been reduced to 285. The board let sixteen owners who had applied for county registration before 2020, but never registered with the town, apply under the original 2019 cap. | Hudson Valley One, 19 April 2023 |
| August 2023 | A town short-term rental task force wrote that "we are over what we have authorized as the cap" and proposed ending transfers on sale, a percentage-based cap and a lottery. | Town task force document, 12 August 2023 |
| January 2026 | The board set the 2026 fees. The minutes I read state no cap. | Town Board minutes, 6 January 2026 |
None of the 2023 proposals became law as far as I can find. The local laws Woodstock has adopted since 2022 deal with other things: the library, cell towers, wellhead protection, fences and a scenic overlay. So the 2019 rules, transfers included, still stand. Treat the cap as full until the Building Department tells you otherwise in writing.
First, which Woodstock?
Two traps. Search results for Woodstock short-term rental rules are full of Woodstock, Vermont, whose permit cap, fees and "does not transfer" rule circulate as if they were this town's. The Vermont town's website is townofwoodstock.org; this town's is woodstockny.gov. Check which state a document cites before you believe a number about Woodstock, including mine.
And a Woodstock mailing address doesn't settle which town a house is in. Hamlets like Bearsville, Lake Hill, Shady and Willow are in the Town of Woodstock, but the tax map is the proof. The Ulster County Parcel Viewer shows the municipality for any parcel.
If you are buying in Woodstock to rent it out
- Ask for the paperwork before you sign. The seller's town registration number, the Ulster County registration, the special permit if it's a non-owner-occupied rental or an establishment, and the latest fire and safety inspection report.
- Calendar the 30 days. The transfer needs a new application within 30 days of the sale. Ask your attorney about making the contract subject to the Building Department confirming that the registration is current and can transfer.
- Check that you qualify. If you already hold an interest in a non-owner-occupied rental in Woodstock, you can't take a second. Buying through a company? Read the corporation rule above and ask the town.
- Underwrite 26 weekends, not 52. A whole-house rental here can book at most half the weekends in a year. Run the numbers on that, and on a long-term lease, before you count on anything more.
- Don't buy expecting a new registration. If the house doesn't have one, assume you won't get one until the Building Department says there's room.
Who to call
- Town of Woodstock Building Department (registrations, operating permits, inspections): (845) 679-2113 ext. 13, building@
woodstockny.gov - Town Hall: 45 Comeau Drive, Woodstock, NY 12498
- Town website: woodstockny.gov
How this page stays current. The law has the Town Board set fees and caps each year, so I re-check the board's January organizational minutes and the town's new local laws. When something changes, I'll update the answer at the top and record the change below rather than editing silently.
Change log
27 October 2026: page published. Writing it corrected two things in the Woodstock entry of my permit guide: the non-owner-occupied fee is $450 plus $50 per additional bedroom, not plus $25, and the transfer rule now comes from the law's own text rather than a 2023 task force summary. Both are noted in the entry.
Comparing towns? See Kingston, Denning or the full permit guide.
Send me the address
I'll check that it's actually in the Town of Woodstock, which zoning district it sits in, and what to ask the seller and the Building Department about its registration, so you know what you're pricing before you make an offer.
Ryan Rooney is a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with Stevens Real Estate at eXp Realty, serving Ulster County and Dutchess County, New York. Born and raised in New Paltz. (845) 447-9274 · rrooney@stevensre.com
Sources, all checked 27 October 2026: Town of Woodstock Local Law 1 of 2019, amending Chapter 260 (Zoning), including the §260-123 definitions and the §260-14 schedule of uses, read from a copy posted by the Town of Marlborough because the copy the town posts is a scan with no readable text (the town's online code dates the law 21 May 2019; confirm the adopted text with the town); Town of Woodstock Town Board organizational meeting minutes, 6 January 2026, Resolution 46-2026 (fees); Town of Woodstock Building Department fee schedule, Resolution 41-2024; Town of Woodstock short-term rental task force document, 12 August 2023; Hudson Valley One, "Woodstock board puts cap on short-term rentals," 16 August 2019; Hudson Valley One, "Sixteen Woodstock homeowners qualify for STR permits as long as they meet four conditions," 19 April 2023. This page reports what the public record shows. It is not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the Town of Woodstock before relying on them.