Chelmsford: register by 14 April 2027

If you rent out a home in Chelmsford, it needs to go on the new landlord register between 15 January 2027 and 14 April 2027. Chelmsford is in Essex, which the law puts in the East of England. It’s the second of nine regions to open.

Chelmsford

Opens in 111 days

Opens: 15 January 2027
Deadline: 14 April 2027
Fee: £65 per property per year, less during the rollout. Registering yourself is free.
Where: GOV.UK, signing in with GOV.UK One Login

Region as defined by Schedule 1, Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (“East of England”), councils as they existed on 15 December 2026. Today is 26 September 2026.

The rest of Essex

Chelmsford has the same dates as the rest of Essex, including these councils.

Before you register

For each home, the form asks for your gas safety record and your electrical safety report, and looks up the energy certificate itself. It’s worth checking all three are in date first. Everything the form asks

What happens if you miss it

Still going through Parliament. The dates and the fee are the government’s published plan, and the regulations that make them law are waiting for Parliament’s approval. What happens if you don’t register applies once they’re in force. We’ll update this as soon as they are. Draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026; GOV.UK’s dates. Checked 24 September 2026.

Until you and the home are both on the register, a court can’t give you the home back, except for antisocial behaviour or crime by the tenant, someone living with them or a visitor. The council can fine you up to £7,000. Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.82, s.90 and s.91.

Each home is registered separately, so homes in other regions have their own deadlines. After that, everything renews together once a year, and if anything on the register changes you have 28 days to update it. Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), regs 8 to 10.