PRS landlord database: registration explained

The private rented sector database, which the government calls "Register your rental property", is due to open on 15 December 2026 for properties in the West Midlands, then region by region until every let property in England is registered by 14 November 2027. The government's Housing Hub gives the fee as £65 per property per year, though that is not yet confirmed in the regulations. The regulations were still in draft when we checked on 25 October 2026, and you don't need to be registered before serving a notice.

When does the private rented sector database open?

Registration goes by where the property is, not where you live. Each region gets 3 months from its start date. Landlords anywhere can register early from 15 December 2026.

Region	Requirement starts	Deadline
West Midlands	15 December 2026	14 March 2027
East of England	15 January 2027	14 April 2027
East Midlands	15 February 2027	14 May 2027
South East	15 March 2027	14 June 2027
Yorkshire and Humber	15 April 2027	14 July 2027
North West	15 May 2027	14 August 2027
North East	15 June 2027	14 September 2027
London	15 July 2027	14 October 2027
South West	15 August 2027	14 November 2027

If you own properties in more than one region, each property follows its own region's window. Councils can start enforcing once a region's 3-month window has passed.

The database is part of Part 2 of the Renters' Rights Act and covers England only.

Are the dates final?

The draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 follow the affirmative procedure, which means both Houses of Parliament must approve them. When we last checked, they were still in draft, and we could not confirm that Parliament had approved them. The regional dates and the £65 fee come from the government's Housing Hub and its 9 September 2026 announcement. We'll update this page when the regulations are made.

Who must register?

Landlords of assured or regulated tenancies must register "yourself and each of your properties". In the first phase:

• only properties that are let, or that become let during the rollout, need to be registered;
• supported exempt accommodation is exempt;
• you need a GOV.UK One Login to use the service;
• you stay responsible even if your letting agent uploads the information.

How much does it cost?

The government's Housing Hub says the fee is £65 per property per year, pro-rated during the rollout. Secondary sources report no separate fee for registering yourself as a landlord.

The draft regulations don't set an amount themselves. They leave the fee to the database operator, set "by reference to the relevant costs". So the £65 figure could still change before the service opens. We'll update this page when it's confirmed.

What information will you need?

Gather this before your region opens:

About you

• Individual landlords: name, date of birth, home address, phone number and email.
• Companies and other organisations: entity type, Companies House or charity number, and similar details.

About each property

• Address, ownership and type of dwelling.
• Number of bedrooms, occupants and households.
• Licence details (HMO, additional or selective), if any.
• Whether it is furnished.
• Rent, how often it is paid, and whether bills are included.

Safety documents

• Gas safety record and its date.
• EICR (or EIC) and its expiry date.
• EPC, and any minimum energy efficiency exemption.

If any of these are missing or out of date, sort them now. Our guides to the gas safety certificate, the EICR and EPCs and MEES explain each one.

What do you have to do after registering?

Under the draft regulations:

• For a property that is already occupied, the detailed property information is due within 28 days of making the entry.
• Any change must be updated within 28 days.
• Entries must be renewed every 12 months.
• A landlord entry with no property entry for 3 months becomes inactive.

That means your database entry will need to keep pace with every gas safety renewal, new EICR and licence change.

Do you need to register before serving a notice or advertising?

Serving a Section 8 notice: no. We have found no rule that requires registration before you serve a notice. The Act does contain a bar on the court making a possession order while a landlord is in breach of the database duty, except on Grounds 7A and 14 (serious antisocial behaviour). That bar is not in force, and no start date has been published. We'll update this page when it is.

Advertising: not yet. The Act will require you to register a property before marketing it and to show database IDs in adverts. GOV.UK says "future legislation" will bring this in. There is no date.

Watch out: once the court bar does start, a landlord who should be registered but isn't will not get a possession order on most grounds. Register within your region's window so it never becomes an issue.

What are the penalties?

None of the database penalties are in force yet. Once they are:

Breach	Maximum penalty
Not registered, or no active landlord and property entries	£7,000 civil penalty
Marketing without an entry, or adverts without IDs (once in force)	£7,000 civil penalty
Continuing more than 28 days after a penalty, or a repeat within 5 years	Criminal offence, or a civil penalty of up to £40,000
Knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information	Criminal offence, or a civil penalty of up to £40,000

Rent repayment orders for the database offences are also not yet in force. See every other penalty in our guide to Renters' Rights Act fines.

What to do next

Note your region's start date and deadline, and put your certificates in one place now. Our compliance reminders keep gas safety, EICR, EPC and licence dates together, so your database entry is easy to keep current. For the other dates still to come, see the Renters' Rights Act timeline, read about the landlord ombudsman, which is expected to follow the database, or go back to the Renters' Rights Act hub.