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The 50% rule: how to count your room nights
A primary residence in Cape Town moves to commercial rates when it is listed for short-term letting for more than 50% of its total annual room nights. This guide gives the sum, the City’s own examples, and the number of nights you can list before you cross the line.
Key facts
- The sum: room nights listed ÷ (bedrooms × 365).
- Above 50% is commercial. Exactly 50% is still residential.
- The City counts nights listed as available on a booking platform, not nights booked.
- Freehold properties are counted as a whole. Sectional title units are counted one at a time.
The sum
- Multiply the bedrooms on the property by 365. That is your total annual room nights. A one-bedroom flat has 365 and a four-bedroom house has 1 460.
- For each bedroom you let, count the nights a year it is listed as available. Add them together.
- Divide the second number by the first.
If the answer is more than 50%, the property is treated as commercial accommodation.
The City’s examples
| Situation | Sum | Result | Rated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Couple lets their two-bedroom flat for December and January, 62 nights a room | (2 × 62) ÷ (2 × 365) | 17% | Residential |
| Family lets a one-bedroom cottage beside their three-bedroom house all year | (1 × 365) ÷ (4 × 365) | 25% | Residential |
| Retiree lets the spare room in a two-bedroom flat all year | (1 × 365) ÷ (2 × 365) | 50% | Residential |
| Couple in a three-bedroom house lets two rooms for 120 nights each | (2 × 120) ÷ (3 × 365) | 22% | Residential |
| Owner lets a one-bedroom flat all year | (1 × 365) ÷ (1 × 365) | 100% | Commercial |
| Manager lets five bedrooms of a six-bedroom villa all year | (5 × 365) ÷ (6 × 365) | 83% | Commercial |
| Owner lives in a four-bedroom house and lets three rooms all year | (3 × 365) ÷ (4 × 365) | 75% | Commercial |
The retiree’s case is the one to notice. A spare room in a two-bedroom flat, listed every night of the year, lands on exactly 50% and stays residential.
How many nights can you list?
This table shows the most nights each listed bedroom can be available while the property stays at or under 50%.
| Bedrooms on the property | Bedrooms listed | Limit to stay residential |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 182 nights each |
| 2 | 1 | All year |
| 2 | 2 | 182 nights each |
| 3 | 1 | All year |
| 3 | 2 | 273 nights each |
| 3 | 3 | 182 nights each |
| 4 | 2 | All year |
| 4 | 3 | 243 nights each |
| 4 | 4 | 182 nights each |
If you let the whole home, the limit is 182 nights a year whatever its size. If you let half the bedrooms or fewer, you can list them all year.
Listed, not booked
The City has said it will measure listing availability on booking platforms, not the nights guests stay. A calendar left open all year counts as 365 nights for each listed room, even if the property is booked for only a few weeks. Blocking the dates you don’t intend to let is what brings the number down.
Houses with cottages and flats
A freehold property is classified in its entirety. The bedrooms in the main house and in any cottage or flatlet go into one sum, and if the result is over 50% the whole property is rated commercial. Sectional title units are assessed unit by unit.
A rolling year
The City looks at any rolling 365 days, not a calendar or financial year. A property that crosses the line is reclassified at the next supplementary valuation, and it stays commercial until its availability drops back below 50% over a 365-day period.
If nobody lives in the property
The 50% allowance is described for primary residences. A property that is nobody’s primary residence and is used for commercial short-term letting is commercial under a separate part of the definition. The City’s guidance doesn’t say how such a property is treated if it is listed for less than half the year, so ask the City before relying on the 50% figure.
Check your own property
Enter your valuation, bedrooms and nights listed to see which side of the 50% line you are on and what the rates would be.
Open the calculatorMore guides
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- Registering a short-term let in Cape Town: what the draft by-law proposes
Sources: City of Cape Town, Short-term letting FAQs and Property rates 2026/27, Annexure 2. Last checked 10 November 2026.