Zoning › TX › San Antonio

Can you rent by the room in San Antonio, TX?

Generally allowed. No cap on unrelated occupants anywhere in the code - one of the cleanest markets reviewed.

Occupancy cap

NONE. San Antonio UDC Appendix A: "Family. One (1) or more persons occupying a dwelling living together as a separate housekeeping unit in one (1) or more rooms with complete living facilities..." No number appears, related or unrelated. The only test is whether it functions as a single housekeeping unit.

Is it a permitted use

Not blocked by an occupancy cap. The definition excludes residents of an "assisted living facility, boarding home, community home, college fraternity or sorority, transitional home, or nursing facility" - but "boarding home" here is the Texas Health & Safety Code ch. 254 term for facilities serving elderly or disabled residents with services, NOT ordinary room rental.

Registration or licensing

No rooming-house licence for ordinary room rental. If residents are elderly or disabled and services are provided, HSC ch. 254 boarding-home permitting is triggered: six residents maximum by right in single-family districts (UDC sec. 35-376).

State pre-emption

Texas broadly preempts local rental regulation and bars rent control. Cities cannot impose most tenancy rules.

What a room rents for in San Antonio

A shared room in San Antonio runs about $178/week across the 89 ZIP codes we cover here. Private-room rates, per-ZIP figures and the local enforcement record are on the analyzer.

How to read this

Renting a house by the room is usually governed by three things: how many unrelated adults may share one dwelling, whether the arrangement is a permitted use or a boarding house, and whether the state has pre-empted the local rule. This page summarises the ordinance and cites it. It is research, not legal advice — a local land-use attorney decides whether a specific property complies.

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