Village of Southampton enacts 2-week minimum stay for rentals

The Village of Southampton has enacted a two-week minimum for prospective renters seeking a getaway.

An amendment to village code, which the board of trustees adopted on Aug. 14, restricts homeowners from handing over the keys to their rental properties for less than 14 days at a time.

The code change aligns the village with the Town of Southampton, the Town of East Hampton and other municipalities on Long Island.

It's also the "first effort" to address a "quality of life" concern villagers have expressed, especially since home rental sites like Airbnb bolstered the popularity of short-term rentals across the island, said Village Trustee Roy Stevenson. 

"Some of our residents found that their neighbors were renting out their houses basically every weekend to different people ... having parties," Stevenson said in a telephone interview Tuesday evening. "The vast majority of villagers here in Southampton want to come out here and enjoy a nice, quiet ... environment. So I think we did the right thing."

Airbnb has "had a ban" on users renting homes for parties since 2020, and they are "extremely rare with fewer than 0.06% of reservations on Airbnb in New York resulting in an allegation of a party in 2024," a company spokesperson said in a statement to Newsday. Airbnb, the statement added is "committed to working with Southampton officials to provide the village with tools for hosts and guests to quickly and appropriately address nuisance and safety concerns while ensuring home sharing remains an economic lifeline for residents and local businesses alike."

Along with Stevenson, Village Mayor Bill Manger and trustees Robert Coburn and Leonard Zinnanti voted to adopt the new short-term rental policy. Trustee Edward Simioni cast the sole dissenting vote. 

Simioni said he opposed the code change for several reasons, including the difficulty of enforcing the rental rules and his concern that the vote was cast before the village could determine the prevalence of the quality of life concern.

"I don't necessarily favor restrictions on rentals because they end up restricting also people that may not be a problem, could be a family of four looking for a place to stay instead of having to rent hotel rooms," Simioni told Newsday on Wednesday.

The trustee said he would favor legislation to prohibit villagers from listing properties through Airbnb and similar online service and instead list properties through real estate agents he said could "inform the prospective renters of what is expected of them, as far as noise and respecting the neighbors."

Across the island, municipalities have implemented minimum stay periods for short-term rentals. The Town of Islip and the Town of Southold banned renting out homes for fewer than 14 days, while the Town of Hempstead requires homeowners to rent their properties for at least 28 days.

Stevenson said the new amendment, which allows homeowners to rent their home for one-week stays twice during the year, has been received positively amongst villagers. As a business owner (Stevenson's Toys & Games in both Southampton and East Hampton), the trustee said he does not think the new restriction will affect the local economy.

"You think there will be less people coming out because they can't rent for the weekend?" Stevenson said. "I don't know if that's true."