photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.

Homeowners in Lawrence looking to rent out a spare room during the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer do need to have a short-term rental license, city officials clarified to the Journal-World on Monday.

As the Journal-World has reported, the city is making temporary changes to its short-term rental rules from May 25 to July 26 ahead of the influx of visitors for the six World Cup matches set to take place in Kansas City. But even with the relaxed rules, code compliance manager Treni Westcott said that renting out a room for any period less than 30 days would require a short-term rental license.

Previously, Westcott had told the Journal-World that a homeowner could decide to rent out a spare bedroom — like a guest bedroom — “within their home … without a rental license.” She said that’s because that situation would be considered more “like a roommate than a true rental.”

However, on Monday, city officials said that was not the case, and that they were mistaken in their previous analysis of what would be required for people to rent out a single room in their home on a short-term basis.

“We were incorrect when we said a TSTR license was not required when a homeowner rents out a room in their home during the World Cup,” Maureen Brady, communications manager for the city, said via email. “Any short-term rental situation, regardless of World Cup, requires a license to operate a short-term rental. Our team confused this with how we handle the renting of rooms for a long-term rental, where a license is not required if the homeowner resides in the home and rents out a bedroom or portion of the dwelling.”

Anything over 30 days is considered a long-term rental, Westcott said.

While the city’s changes won’t allow for short-term rentals without a license during the World Cup, they will make it easier for short-term rentals to be opened in certain situations. They will temporarily remove limits for short-term rentals in certain residential areas, lift a cap on the number of short-term rentals that one owner can operate and allow properties that have been inspected under the city’s separate long-term rental code to use those inspections to satisfy the short-term rental inspection requirements.

Residents interested in operating a short-term rental can apply with the city for a license, which has a $17 application fee and a $50 inspection fee per unit. The applications to get a short-term rental license — either a temporary one or a regular one — are at the City of Lawrence online customer portal at lawrenceks.gov/epl.