Can I Airbnb my house in Novi?

The zoning ordinance does not address short-term rentals. A search of the full ordinance text, amended through June 6, 2025, finds no section regulating, permitting, or prohibiting short-term rental of a dwelling, and no licensing scheme for it in the zoning ordinance.

What the ordinance does say: one-family districts permit one-family detached dwellings (Section 3.1.2.B), and the commercial lodging uses it names, hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts, are separately defined and regulated. A bed and breakfast, where the owner lives on site and rents rooms, is a special land use, but only in a dwelling that qualifies as an historic resource (Section 2.2), only on a collector or arterial road, never inside a single-family subdivision, and with guest stays capped at 14 consecutive days (Section 4.18). Renting your whole house short-term is neither expressly allowed nor expressly banned by the zoning text.

That silence is not a green light. Cities interpret dwelling definitions differently, other chapters of the Novi Code of Ordinances may impose rental registration or nuisance rules, and homeowner association covenants often prohibit short-term rentals outright. Before listing, confirm the city's current position with the Community Development Department at 248-347-0415.