Southampton’s village board voted on Aug. 19 to ban short-term weekend rentals by imposing a two-week minimum on home leases, a move officials say is intended to curb weekend partygoers and large bachelorette groups that residents say have disrupted the community.
The ordinance, which took effect after Labor Day, prohibits rentals shorter than two weeks in the village portion of Southampton on Long Island’s South Fork. The board passed the measure 4-1, and it includes fines for homeowners who attempt to skirt the rule and restrictions that bar real estate agents from searching for weekend rentals for clients. The regulation applies only to the village, not the wider township or neighboring communities.
Mayor Bill Manger, who campaigned on addressing the weekend disruptions, said he witnessed the problem firsthand during door‑to‑door outreach and that many longtime residents supported the change. "It's every weekend, it's a lot of bachelorette parties," Manger told the Daily Mail. He said visitors who rent for a single weekend have little interest in the community and that residents are "thrilled to have the disruption removed." He predicted the 2026 summer season would be noticeably calmer.
Southampton is the latest town in the Hamptons to adopt restrictions aimed at limiting short stays. Several neighboring villages and towns on Long Island’s South Fork moved earlier to restrict weekend rentals after years of complaints about noise, traffic and overcrowded beaches. Proponents of the ban say limiting shorter stays will ease congestion on local roads and restore a quieter residential atmosphere.
Not all local stakeholders support the change. Real estate brokers and some small-business owners warned the ban could reduce income that owners earn from short-term lets and decrease foot traffic for restaurants, shops and seasonal events such as the Hampton Film Festival. Local realtor Nate Grome told the Daily Mail that many clients who rely on weekend rentals for supplemental income are upset and that some businesses worry that fewer short visits during the shoulder seasons could slow commerce.
Paul Brennan, a broker with Douglas Elliman, said removing weekend rentals should free up traffic that once could turn a 15‑minute drive from Bridgehampton to Southampton into an hourlong trip. "Because of the crowds it takes an hour to get from Bridgehampton to Southampton and that should be a 15 minute trip at most," he said, adding that crowded roads and beaches made recreation less enjoyable for full‑time residents.
Data released earlier this year suggested a softening in demand across the region. William Raveis Real Estate reported in May that rentals in the Hamptons had fallen about 30 percent from a year earlier. Brokers attributed the drop to a combination of renters waiting for better deals and broader concerns about economic stability.
The two‑week minimum was designed to target weekend visitors who cannot afford longer stays; typical weekly rental rates in the Hamptons can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars during peak season. The village law does not restrict longer-term leasing or the sale of property, and enforcement officials have said they will pursue fines against homeowners who violate the restriction.
The decision highlights a wider tension in resort communities between preserving local quality of life and maintaining the economic benefits of tourism. Supporters of the measure argue it protects neighborhoods from disruptive behavior and daily congestion, while opponents caution that limiting short stays could harm businesses that rely on seasonal visitors.
Southampton officials said they will monitor the ordinance’s impact on traffic, noise and the local economy in the months ahead. For now, the change marks the village’s latest effort to regulate the influx of short‑term visitors and to align local rental practices with those of neighboring Hamptons communities.