Now that more details of the new landlord database are emerging let’s take a closer look at how it might work in practical terms and at some of the issues that might arise.
Introduction
The new landlord database – now known as the Register Your Rental Property service – is part of the second phase of the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 in England. In simple terms it is a database of both PRS landlords and their properties. It applies to all properties on assured and regulated tenancies, but not exempt supported accommodation.
The Government say the purpose of the database is so landlords can ‘demonstrate compliance with the law’. Local authorities will be able to access and use the database for enforcement. Tenants will be able to access some of the data but not initially. It has not yet been decided what data will be available to them.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) will be the database operator at least initially.
The penalties for not complying or giving incorrect information are the same fairly weighty penalties that apply to all offences under the Renters’ Rights Act – from £7,000 up to £40,000. Non-compliant landlords could face difficulty regaining possession and the possibility of a rent repayment order too.
The registration fee
While it is free to register as a landlord, registering each property will cost £65 a year – significantly more than originally proposed – and is payable to central government.
There is a transitional arrangement so that landlords who register earlier under the regional rollout arrangement don’t pay more. It has also been set up so that landlords with multiple properties will align their annual renewal date with fees apportioned accordingly. As an aside, while no doubt well meaning, this could potentially create a very heavy workload for larger landlords come renewal time.
The regional rollout
The registration window for the database will run between December 2026 and August 2027 depending on the region where the property (not the landlord) is located and landlords will have three months to register. The Government say this is to prevent the new system from being overwhelmed – something there must be a very real risk of, bearing in mind that the numbers likely to be involved are not entirely clear.
Another possible snag is that landlords don’t necessarily know which region of England they are in, which could cause some confusion. Some landlords also have properties in multiple regions. The Government says that these landlords can register all their properties when the window for their first region opens if they wish.
Initially properties only need to be registered if they are ‘let or will become let’. (That a property ‘might become let’ is an odd kind of status.) At a later date all properties will need to be registered even just to market them and/or if they are empty.
Landlords and properties will be given what are being called ‘unique identifiers’. These will need to be included in property marketing at some point but, again, no indication has been given as to when.
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 & 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
The registration process
The preferred method of registration is via the GOV.UK One Login system. Landlords need to register with this and prove their identity first. Apparently offline alternatives will be available.
The official documentation is quite clear that landlords who use an agent must initiate the registration process themselves. It adds ‘you as a landlord will remain responsible for providing all required information.’ Agents cannot do this – although they are permitted to upload some of the required information.
We can see a couple of issues here: Landlord who use agents who are not entirely on the ball could leave themselves exposed to penalties very easily. It also seems a bit odd that, in 2026, when most agents and some landlords use property management platforms no provision seems to have been made to integrate with these.
The information landlords need to provide
The registration process is divided into ‘landlord registration’ and ‘dwelling registration’. The dwelling registration further divides into giving information about the property, the tenancy, the rent, and what is called health and safety information.
Landlord information
Registering with the database differs depending on whether the landlord is an individual landlord or what is being called an organisational landlord. It seems that organisational landlords include limited companies, trusts and charities.
Individual landlords need to provide only fairly basic information (but see below). This includes their name, date of birth, personal residential address, phone number and email.
For organisational landlords much more information is required: No less than 11 additional pieces of information including both the name and personal details of the person making the registration and the name and details of a contact.
If the person making the registration is acting in a capacity such as a power of attorney or for a deceased estate then, again, the process is more complex. More information is required plus the upload of certified copies of relevant documents.
Although small landlords will find this part of the new requirements fairly easy to comply with for many others it will be quite onerous.
The information that must be supplied for the property and the tenancy is a lot more comprehensive:
Dwelling information
Landlords need to provide the property address, name of the landlord, ownership type (eg. freehold or leasehold), dwelling type, number of bedrooms and whether currently let or not. They will also need to provide details of the freehold owner, any superior landlord or the property manager if there is one.
Tenancy information
Landlords need to state the number of occupants, number of households, whether let furnished, unfurnished or partly furnished. If the property requires a licence of any type (eg. HMO or selective) licence numbers must be provided.
Rent information
Landlords need to provide information on the rent payable and frequency. If the tenancy is inclusive of any bills they must say what is included.
Health and safety information
Landlords need to provide details of gas safety records, EICRs (or EICs) and EPCs (and any exemptions). They also need to upload copies of all these documents.
Given the complexity of the information required we can foresee a significant level of incomplete and possibly rejected registrations. We wonder what allowances might have been made for this, if any.
Another snag we can foresee is that much of the information required by the database changes frequently, not just once a year. The rules seem to suggest that any changes will need to be updated within 28 days. It will be interesting to see if any further leeway will be allowed before enforcement begins.
Again, in 2026, it seems something of an anachronism that there is not some better way of providing this information other than manually keying it in and uploading physical documents.
Functionality and enforcement
The Government have indicated that local authorities will only have access to the database once the relevant registration deadlines have passed. They will only be able to use it for enforcement from that point on.
They say they will be issuing guidance on recommended approaches to enforcement before the database goes live. That doesn’t leave much time for local authorities nor anyone else involved with enforcement to prepare.
From what the official guidance says it seems that the functionality of the database will be fairly limited. Local authorities will be able to search for information and filter the results. It doesn’t seem that there will be any way that breaches will be automatically flagged.
Interestingly, they say that the database itself will not automatically verify or review information provided, including any documents submitted. A system for doing this may be introduced in future. Until then local authorities can carry out checks and reviews at their own discretion.
Little has been said about how the database will tie in with other databases, such as HMO registers. It seems that, for the foreseeable future, it probably won’t.
How the fee will be spent
The Government say that assuming a 100% sign up rate (which seems unlikely) and based on 4.5m PRS properties (a number which is likely declining) annual income from the database could be £290m a year.
They say they have set the £65 annual fee at a level that balances fairness for landlords (although tenants will be paying it indirectly) with the costs of running the database and funding local authorities to enforce it. Notably, the fee of £65 is considerably more than the £28.58 fee estimated when the database was proposed.
Interestingly, official briefings say: ‘Our focus for now is on supporting an increase in effective compliance and enforcement activity across the country rather than seeking to link funding to performance.’
The MHCLG has published some information about where the income might go. Currently there seems to be no set mechanism for this, other than that local authorities will receive a ‘significant proportion’.
In 2027/28 all income will go to the MHCLG. Authorities will receive new burdens funding: and in the initial period money will be handed out according to how many PRS properties an area has. However they add this will not necessarily always be the case. The system will ultimately be linked to the requirement for local authorities to disclose their enforcement activity data.
How the database income is divvied up probably won’t interest landlords much. However the vagueness of any long term proposals should probably concern local authorities.
Some thoughts
While there are undoubtedly good intentions behind the database (and there should probably have been a PRS database years ago) it has clearly been created by lovers of good old fashioned red tape. A vast amount of information is being requested. It is questionable as to whether some of it is really needed. It will create a vast amount of work, especially for larger landlords.
It is also notable how little about the database is concrete as yet, with Government briefings underlining that much is to be decided at a later stage. Odd perhaps, bearing in mind that work started on the new Act over two years ago. So even at this late stage there is quite a lot of uncertainty about how it will work.
Because some of the measures will be phased in gradually – and may not necessarily be well publicised – there is a risk landlords could get caught out if they don’t keep up to date with the latest developments.
From what we have seen so far, it seems quite a lot could go wrong during the rollout period and once enforcement begins. Landlords are going to have to take a great deal of care to ensure that they provide every little bit of the information they are required to supply and that it is correct and up to date.
Questions should also raised be about where this data could end up and what it could be used for. The Renters’ Rights Act specifies what local authorities can use it for. But some of this information will ultimately be made public and as with any data there is also the risk of data breaches and hacking.
Will local authorities make extensive use of the database? Almost certainly, and with relish in some cases we’re sure. Fingers need to be crossed that they (as well as the Government themselves) will take a reasonable approach to enforcement.
Will tenants make use of the database to, as the Government suggests, ‘make better informed rental choices’? It’s hard to say but – in times when the supply of accommodation is tight in most places and tenants have many other things to do – chances are the average tenant in the street won’t.
