The PRS landlord database: what it is and how to register
Last updated
Every private landlord in England will have to register themselves and every rental property on a new national database, or lose the right to evict through the courts. Registration opens region by region from 15 December 2026, the fee is £65 per property per year, and the deadlines are now official. This guide is for landlords and new investors who want to know what the Private Rented Sector database is, when your date lands, what it will cost you to ignore, and what to do now. It sits alongside the Renters' Rights Act guide and the landlord compliance checklist.
What it is, in one paragraph
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (sections 75 to 96) creates a single national database of private landlords and their properties in England. The government calls it a "one stop shop": tenants can check a property before renting, landlords get a single place to show they are compliant, and councils get a live map of who owns what so they can target enforcement. Registration will be mandatory for all landlords letting on assured or regulated tenancies. That is nearly every normal private tenancy, because since 1 May 2026 all assured shorthold tenancies converted to periodic assured tenancies.
Current status as of September 2026: dates and fee now official
The waiting is over. On 9 September 2026 the government published the full rollout schedule and the fee for the service, which is called Register your rental property. The headlines:
- Registration opens region by region from 15 December 2026, starting with the West Midlands, then one region per month through to the South West in August 2027.
- Each region gets a 3 month window. Once the rules commence in your region, you have 3 months to register yourself and every property. The deadlines run from 14 March 2027 (West Midlands) to 14 November 2027 (South West).
- The fee is £65 per property, per year, pro-rated during the rollout. It funds the service and council enforcement.
The full schedule:
| Region | Registration opens | 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 the 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 |
Not sure which region a property sits in? Our PRS database deadline checker takes a postcode and gives you the dates. One thing has not changed: public access comes later. Landlord registration launches first, and tenants will not be browsing your entry on day one.
Who must register
All private landlords letting under assured or regulated tenancies in England, and every property they let. Joint landlords are covered too: the entry has to capture the details of all of them. If you let through an agent, the duty to register is still yours. The agent cannot register instead of you, though you can let them supply some of the details. At first only properties that are let, or become let during the rollout, need registering; the government says registering empty properties before they are marketed will follow under future legislation, and agents will then be barred from marketing an unregistered property.
What information it will hold
The government's pre-launch guidance sets out what the registration form asks for:
- Landlord details. Name, date of birth, address and contact details, for all joint landlords. Companies and charities also give the legal entity type, Companies House or charity number and director details.
- Property details. Full address, type of property (flat or house), number of bedrooms, number of households and residents, whether the property is occupied and furnished, the tenancy terms, and the rent amount and frequency.
- Safety information. Gas safety certificate, electrical installation condition report (EICR) and energy performance certificate, or your registered MEES exemption where one applies.
Each landlord and each property gets a unique identifier, and section 82 of the Act requires those identifiers to appear in any written advert for the property. Not everything on the database will be public. The government has said information related to property standards will be publicly available, but some data stays restricted to balance landlord privacy.
Penalties for not registering
The enforcement structure is already in the Act, verified at legislation.gov.uk, even though it is not switched on yet:
| Breach | Consequence | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing, advertising or letting without an active entry | Civil penalty up to £7,000 per breach, from the council | Sections 82 and 91 |
| Knowingly or recklessly giving false information, continuing a breach 28 days after a penalty, or repeat breaches within 5 years | Criminal offence, or civil penalty up to £40,000 as an alternative | Sections 91 and 92 |
| Committing a database offence | Rent repayment order of up to 24 months' rent, once these offences are in force | Act's expanded RRO list |
| Being unregistered when you need possession | Court cannot make a possession order (see below) | Section 90 |
Councils impose the civil penalties and keep the proceeds for enforcement, and they were handed beefed-up investigation powers back in December 2025. Expect them to use the database as their enforcement radar.
The possession block: the penalty that really bites
Fines require a council to notice you. Section 90 is automatic. While a landlord is in breach of the duty to have an active landlord entry, the court may not make a possession order. The only exceptions are Ground 7A and Ground 14, the antisocial behaviour grounds.
Follow that through. Unregistered landlord, tenant stops paying rent, cast-iron Ground 8 arrears case: no possession order until you fix your registration. Want to sell or move back in: same block. This mirrors the existing deposit protection trap covered in the tenancy-ending guide, and it will catch people the same way, at the hearing, months into the process.
What it will cost
£65 per property, per year, confirmed by the government in September 2026. It is per entry, not per landlord: four properties means four fees, £260 a year. Fees are pro-rated during the rollout, and the proceeds fund the service plus council enforcement. Remember it lands on top of licensing fees where your council runs a scheme, because the database does not replace licensing.
What to do now
Nothing to file yet, but the smart preparation costs you nothing:
- Get the three documents current. Gas safety certificate (annual), EICR (five-yearly) and EPC (minimum E) are exactly what the database asks for. If any of yours are expired or missing, fix that now. The full list is in the compliance checklist.
- Sort your paperwork trail. Digital copies of certificates, deposit protection, and a UK contact address. Registration will be an online form asking for things you should already have.
- Check your ads habit. Once live, every written advert needs the unique identifiers. If you self-advertise, build that into your template.
- Diarise your region's dates. The schedule is published (table above). Run the property's postcode through our deadline checker and put both dates in the calendar, because the 3 month window closes faster than an EICR gets booked in January.
- Run your current setup through the compliance checker. Unregistered plus non-compliant is the worst place to be standing when enforcement starts.
What is genuinely still unknown
Being straight with you: the dates, the fee and the information list are now official, but as of September 2026 we still do not know exactly what tenants will see publicly and when, how the offline route works for non-digital landlords, or the fine detail of the secondary legislation. This guide will be updated as gov.uk publishes the remaining mechanics. And the old warning stands until your region's service actually opens: do not pay anyone who offers to "pre-register" you. Registration only exists on the official gov.uk service, from your region's opening date.
Mistakes people make
- Assuming it is like selective licensing. It is national, it is separate from licensing, and holding an HMO or selective licence will not exempt you. See the HMO licensing guide.
- Thinking the agent handles it. The registration duty sits with the landlord, including every joint landlord.
- Ignoring it because fines seem unlikely. The possession block needs no council action. It just sits there waiting for the day you need your property back.
- Guessing at fees or dates from blog posts. Only gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk count. Everything else is filler until the regulations land.
- Leaving certificates until launch week. An EICR can take weeks to book and remedial works add more. Get compliant now and registration becomes a form-filling exercise.
We track the launch, region by region, in the free Housetrix Discord, so you will know when your registration window opens.
Sources: MHCLG Housing Hub, Get ready to register (rollout schedule and fee), gov.uk, Guide to the Renters' Rights Act, gov.uk, Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025 roadmap, legislation.gov.uk, Renters' Rights Act 2025 sections 75 to 96, legislation.gov.uk, Renters' Rights Act 2025 section 90, legislation.gov.uk, Renters' Rights Act 2025 section 91
Education, not legal advice. For your own situation, speak to a housing solicitor or your local council's private sector housing team.