What it is
It’s a national list of landlords and the homes they rent out in England. The law calls it the Private Rented Sector Database (you’ll often see “PRS Database”), and GOV.UK calls the service “Register your rental property”. It comes from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
There are two parts. First you register yourself, once, for free, and get a landlord registration number. Then you register each home, and get a property registration number for each one.
Who must register
Anyone who rents out a home in England to private tenants, or plans to. It’s England only — Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes.
When
The register opens one region a month, starting on 15 December 2026, and each region gets three months. The deadline goes with the home, not with you. If you have homes in three regions, you have three deadlines. You can register any of them early, from 15 December 2026.
| Region | Opens | Deadline | Open |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Midlands | 15 Dec 2026 | 14 Mar 2027 | |
| East of England | 15 Jan 2027 | 14 Apr 2027 | |
| East Midlands | 15 Feb 2027 | 14 May 2027 | |
| South East | 15 Mar 2027 | 14 Jun 2027 | |
| Yorkshire & the Humber | 15 Apr 2027 | 14 Jul 2027 | |
| North West | 15 May 2027 | 14 Aug 2027 | |
| North East | 15 Jun 2027 | 14 Sep 2027 | |
| London | 15 Jul 2027 | 14 Oct 2027 | |
| South West | 15 Aug 2027 | 14 Nov 2027 |
Regions go by council, using the councils as they were on 15 December 2026. If you’re not sure which region a home is in, check the postcode.
What it costs
£65 per property per year, with a reduced amount during the rollout. Registering yourself is free.
Renewal catches people out. All your properties renew together, on the anniversary of the first one you registered — not each on its own date. So if you register a flat in Birmingham in January 2027 and a house in London that August, both renew in January. Work out your renewal date.
What you’ll need
The form asks the same questions for every home. It’s worth gathering the answers before your region opens:
- The address, what type of home it is, and whether you own the freehold or a lease
- How many bedrooms — leaving out any room smaller than 4.64 m²
- How many households and people live there, and whether it’s furnished
- The rent, how often it’s paid, and whether bills are included
- Whether the council requires a licence for the home, and the licence number if so
- Your gas safety record, which you upload (is yours in date?)
- Your electrical safety report and when it runs out (check yours)
- Any exemption you’ve registered from the minimum energy rating. The service looks up the energy certificate itself (is yours good enough to let?).
- A contact address in England or Wales that isn’t a PO box
- For a leasehold flat, the freeholder’s details
People who tried the service early said it took about ten minutes a property. Our registration pack lays out every answer in the order the form asks, ready to copy across. (The legal list of questions is in Schedule 3 of the regulations.)
How to register as a landlord in England
On GOV.UK, signing in with GOV.UK One Login. There’s no bulk upload, and no way for anyone else to do it for you, so each home is entered by hand.
- Find out when your region opens: put in the postcode, or see every region’s dates.
- Gather what you’ll need for each home, and check the gas and electrical records are in date.
- Once your region is open, sign in on GOV.UK and add yourself, then each home.
- Keep the registration numbers it gives you. If anything on the register changes, you have 28 days to update it.
If you don’t register
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.
| What can happen | The law |
|---|---|
| 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 | Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.90 (Grounds 7A and 14) |
| The council can fine you up to £7,000 | Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.82 and s.91 |
| Up to £40,000 for giving false information, carrying on more than 28 days after a fine, or breaking the rules again within five years | Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.91 and s.92 |
The first one matters most. Since “no-fault” (Section 21) evictions ended on 1 May 2026, you can only get a home back for a reason set out in law — and an unregistered home shuts almost all of those doors.
After you register
Keep it up to date. When anything on the register goes out of date — new rent, a new gas record, a new licence, a change in who lives there — you have 28 days to update it. The fine for missing it is up to £7,000. Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), regs 8 and 9; Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.91. More on the 28-day rule
Renew once a year, all properties together, on the anniversary of your first registration. Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), reg 10.
Sources
- The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, including Schedule 1 (regions)
- Renters’ Rights Act 2025, sections 78, 82 and 92
- GOV.UK guide to the Renters’ Rights Act
This guide explains what the law says and when. It isn’t legal advice about your own situation.