San Mateo County · checked 2026-09-13
Can you BnB it in Hillsborough?
BannedHillsborough treats transitory lodging, and advertising a home for transitory lodging, as a commercial use that is not allowed in its residential districts. Only a limited long term room rental counts as part of the permitted single family dwelling use, so a short term rental is not a lawful use of a Hillsborough home.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseNone available: short-term rentals are prohibited, so there is no permit to apply for.L117.16.020(D)(2)(i) · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Transfer when the home sellsCode silent on transfer. Hillsborough issues no short term rental permit or license, so there is nothing to transfer on sale. A home business permit under Chapter 5.06 and section 17.16.015 is a separate matter and has not been read yet.L1Hillsborough Municipal Code 17.16.010 (Ord. No. 792, section 2(Exh. A), 1-8-2024) and 17.16.020 (Ord. 613 sections 5 to 7, 2000; Ord. No. 761, section 12, 1-13-2020). Code codified through Ordinance No. 800, April 13, 2026. · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Read the code text →
In the city's own words
17.16.010(B)(1)(a)“A limited long-term room rental shall be deemed part of the permitted use as a single-family dwelling.” source
17.16.020(D)(2)(i)“Transitory lodgings and advertisement of transitory lodgings” source
Citation: Hillsborough Municipal Code 17.16.010 (Ord. No. 792, section 2(Exh. A), 1-8-2024) and 17.16.020 (Ord. 613 sections 5 to 7, 2000; Ord. No. 761, section 12, 1-13-2020). Code codified through Ordinance No. 800, April 13, 2026.
Check a specific address
The checker resolves any California address to its jurisdiction and returns these rules with their verification level. Where a county or city publishes a licensed-rental registry or parcel map (Riverside County, San Diego, Palm Springs, and a growing list), it also runs parcel spacing, permit cap, and registry checks.
How this page was verified
Verified from the municipal code (level 1), checked on 2026-09-13 by the CanIBnB research desk. Research is AI assisted and human reviewed; the method, the level system, and the re-check schedule are on the How we verify page. If anything here is wrong, report it and it goes in the public corrections log.