Short answer: For most homes, no. Lee's Summit allows short-term rentals only on parcels over one acre or inside the Old Town plan area, and the owner or a local representative has to live on the same or an adjacent parcel (UDO Section 6.505). Only two rooms can be rented, to four unrelated guests at most. A typical investor house in a subdivision doesn't qualify. Furnished stays of a month or longer are the model that works, and YourSTRManagement runs those.
What Section 6.505 requires
Lee's Summit treats a short-term rental as a use permitted with conditions. The Unified Development Ordinance, Section 6.505 (Ordinance 9812, adopted December 12, 2023) sets these conditions, and you have to meet all of them:
- The home sits on a parcel larger than one acre, or inside the Old Town Master Development Plan area.
- It is a single-family home or a duplex. Accessory dwelling units and accessory buildings can't be used.
- The owner or a local representative lives in a dwelling on the same parcel or the one next to it.
- No more than two rooms are rented, to no more than four unrelated guests or one family.
- The owner holds a city business license, pays license taxes under Chapter 28, Division 7 of the city code, and gives the city their contact information.
- The city's noise rule (Section 17-254) is posted in each rented room.
- Each unit has a working fire extinguisher, a smoke alarm in every bedroom, carbon monoxide detection, child-proofed outlets, an escape route map and the owner's emergency contact.
The city's short-term rental page describes Old Town as the area east of US Highway 50, west of 291 North and south of Chipman Road. It also says a business license is required and asks owners to check with Development Services at 816-969-1200 before listing.
In practice, this is a rule for owners who live on site and rent out a room or two. If you bought a house to rent out whole, you won't meet the owner-next-door condition.
The mid-term option
A furnished home rented for a month or more works as a regular residential rental, which is how we run homes in cities that limit nightly stays. Section 6.505 doesn't state a night count, so ask Development Services how the city treats your planned stay length before you list.
The people who book monthly stays in Lee's Summit tend to have a work or family reason to be there:
- Traveling nurses and other clinical staff. Saint Luke's East Hospital is at 100 NE Saint Luke's Blvd. in Lee's Summit.
- Families relocating for a job who need a place while they house hunt.
- Households displaced by a fire, flood or major remodel.
- Couples between selling one home and closing on the next.
These guests want a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, a desk, Wi-Fi and a quiet street. Plenty of Lee's Summit homes already have all of that. One guest a month means far fewer cleanings and less wear than nightly stays. The work shifts to filling the gaps between stays quickly, and that's most of what we do for a mid-term home. Our mid-term rental page explains how we run these stays across the metro.
If you want nightly bookings
If your property does qualify, on an acre-plus lot or in Old Town with you or your representative next door, we can manage the rented rooms within the two-room, four-guest limit. If it doesn't, the Kansas side of the metro is friendlier: Olathe allows short-term rentals without a separate permit. Our Kansas City owner's guide compares the rules city by city.
What management covers
We set up the listing and photos, price each month against the local market, screen every guest, handle messages, coordinate move-in and move-out cleaning and inspections, and arrange repairs through local contractors with your approval on costs. You get a monthly statement. Our standard fee is 15% of booking revenue, and we reply to new owners within one day. The details are on our services page.
Across the homes we've managed, we've hosted 8,000+ stays over 5 years with a 4.8 star average rating. We carry $1M in liability coverage and $100K in damage coverage.
Nothing here is legal advice. City codes change, so confirm the current rule for your address with Lee's Summit before you list.