The landlord register, explained / The 28-day rule
Guide
Updating the landlord register: the 28-day rule
Registering isn’t a one-off. Once a home is on the new landlord register, you have 28 days to update it whenever something on it changes. Most landlords haven’t heard of this part yet.
What’s the rule?
Once registered, you must update the entry within 28 days of any registered information becoming out of date — a new rent, a new certificate, a new licence.
The council can fine you up to £7,000. Carrying on for more than 28 days after a fine can mean a fine of up to £40,000.
Draft, going through Parliament: Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), regs 8 and 9; Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.78, s.82(3)(b) and s.91. Read it. Checked 24 September 2026.
It applies once a home is registered, so from 15 December 2026 at the earliest, as each region opens.
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 counts as a change
Anything you told the register about yourself or the home that’s no longer true. For example:
- the rent, how often it’s paid, or whether bills are included
- a new gas safety record or electrical safety report
- a licence granted, changed or ended
- the number of bedrooms, households or people living there, or whether it’s furnished
- your contact address, or the freeholder’s details for a leasehold flat
The full list of what the register asks for is in our guide to registering.
How Quarterday keeps track
When you change one of a registered home’s details in Quarterday (its address, type, whether you own it outright or on a lease, bedrooms, whether it’s shared, let or furnished, its licence or the freeholder), we start the 28-day clock and email you straight away, then 14, 7 and 1 day before it ends. Mark it done once you’ve updated the register, and the clock stops.
Separate from the yearly renewal
Registration renews every year on the anniversary of the first property you registered — every property together, not each on its own date. £65 per property.
If it lapses, it counts the same as never having registered.
Draft, going through Parliament: Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), reg 10; Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.82 and s.91. Read it. Checked 24 September 2026.
So there are two things to keep up once you’re registered: the renewal once a year, and an update within 28 days whenever something changes. Quarterday reminds you about both. Find your renewal date.
Keeping it accurate matters
Giving false information knowingly or carelessly, or ignoring a fine and carrying on, is a crime.
The council can fine you up to £40,000, or you can be prosecuted. It covers false information, carrying on more than 28 days after a fine, and breaking the rules again within five years.
Draft, going through Parliament: Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.92 (offences) and s.91 (fines). Read it. Checked 24 September 2026.
Not the same as other 28-day rules
You may have heard of other 28-day deadlines, such as giving tenants a copy of the gas safety record. This one is only about keeping your entry on the landlord register up to date.
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Quarterday tells you which rules apply and when. It isn’t legal advice. Where our figures come from.