Private Rented Sector Database: dates, details and a readiness checklist.
What is the Private Rented Sector Database? It is the national register of private landlords and rented homes in England set up by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Under draft regulations published on 9 September 2026, registration is due to open in the West Midlands on 15 December 2026 and reach the South West on 15 August 2027, subject to Parliament approving the draft regulations. Landlords of assured and regulated tenancies will need an active landlord entry and an active entry for each rented home, and written adverts must show both registration numbers.
Nine start dates
West Midlands on 15 December 2026 to the South West on 15 August 2027. Draft, awaiting approval.
Two kinds of entry
One for you as landlord, one for each rented home. Adverts must show both numbers.
A fee per home
For each dwelling entry and yearly renewal. The operator sets the amount.
Up to £7,000
Civil penalty for a breach. Up to £40,000 for an offence.
Roll-out dates by region
The draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 bring the registration rules in one region at a time. Regions are defined by council area in Schedule 1 to the draft, as the areas stood on 15 December 2026. The Regulations come into force for all other purposes on 15 September 2027.
| Region | Opens (draft) | Council areas include |
|---|---|---|
| West Midlands | 15 December 2026 | Birmingham, Coventry, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire and others |
| East of England | 15 January 2027 | Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Peterborough, Suffolk and others |
| East Midlands | 15 February 2027 | Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Lincolnshire, Nottingham, North and West Northamptonshire and others |
| South East | 15 March 2027 | Brighton and Hove, Hampshire, Kent, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Surrey and others |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 15 April 2027 | Bradford, Hull, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Sheffield, York and others |
| North West | 15 May 2027 | Cheshire East, Cumberland, Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester, Salford and others |
| North East | 15 June 2027 | Durham, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Sunderland and others |
| London | 15 July 2027 | The City of London and all 32 London boroughs |
| South West | 15 August 2027 | Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Plymouth, Somerset, Wiltshire and others |
The government's announcement of 9 September 2026 says the service, called Register your rental property, will give landlords in each region three months to sign up once their area is called forward, and that all landlords actively letting property will need to have registered by 14 November 2027. It also says the requirements first apply to homes that are let, or become let during the roll-out; registering empty homes before marketing them will follow under future legislation.
Those dates are not yet law. The draft Regulations need approval by each House of Parliament, and the explanatory memorandum says a separate instrument, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026, will bring the database duties in the Act into force. It had not been published on legislation.gov.uk when we checked on 28 September 2026.
Who must register
The duty falls on a "residential landlord": the landlord of a home in England let on an assured tenancy under the Housing Act 1988 or a regulated tenancy under the Rent Act 1977, where the home is not social housing (section 63 of the Act). The draft Regulations take supported exempt accommodation out of scope. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland keep their own landlord registers; the explanatory memorandum says the database applies in England.
Each landlord makes a landlord entry, and each rented home needs a dwelling entry linked to it. Joint landlords each make their own landlord entry and share the dwelling entry. Entries are made through the operator's website or on its form. A letting agent or property manager cannot make the entries for a landlord, but can provide and update the tenancy and safety information for the home (regulations 4(5) and 7(2) of the draft).
Readiness checklist: what to have ready
Schedules 2 and 3 to the draft Regulations list what each entry must contain. If a home is already let, you can make the dwelling entry first and add the tenancy and safety details within 28 days; if you do not, the entry becomes inactive.
About you (landlord entry)
- Name, date of birth, home address, phone number and email address.
- For a company, trust or other organisation: its legal form, address, Companies House or charity number, a nominated contact, and the details of the person making the entry.
- If someone acts for you under a power of attorney, as an executor, deputy or receiver: a copy of the certified or sealed document that gives them authority.
About each home (dwelling entry)
- Address, ownership type and dwelling type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat and so on).
- Number of bedrooms and whether the home is currently let.
- Names and email addresses of the freeholder, any superior landlord and the property manager.
Once the home is let (within 28 days)
- Number of occupants and number of households.
- Whether an HMO, additional or selective licence is needed, and the licence numbers.
- Gas safety record and its issue date, if the home has a gas supply.
- EICR and the date the next inspection is due, or the Electrical Installation Certificate and its issue date.
- The most recent EPC if you had to give one to the tenant, the tenancy start date if it has expired, and any registered MEES exemption.
- Rent, how often it is paid, which utilities it includes, and whether the home is furnished, part furnished or unfurnished.
The draft list does not ask for tenancy deposit details or proof of membership of a landlord redress scheme. It does ask for the EICR's next-inspection date, so check that date on each report now; our guide to the EICR changes due on 30 November 2026 explains what else is moving.
Fees, renewals and keeping entries current
- Fee: paid when you make a dwelling entry, each time you renew it and, in some cases, to reactivate it. The draft sets no figure: regulation 14 leaves it to the database operator, set by reference to its relevant costs. The explanatory memorandum says this lets the fee change, for example with inflation.
- Renewal: every 12 months, or the entry becomes inactive. Dwelling entries you add later share the renewal date of your existing ones.
- Updates: within 28 days of any information going out of date, and within 28 days of a tenancy starting for a home that was registered before it was let.
- Lapsed landlord entry: a landlord entry becomes inactive if no dwelling entry is linked to it within 3 months.
Penalties and possession
Section 82 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 says a home must not be marketed for letting without active landlord and dwelling entries, that written adverts must include both unique identifiers, and that a landlord must keep active, up-to-date entries for each let home. Under section 91, a council can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a breach, and up to £40,000 for an offence under section 92: knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information, carrying on with a breach 28 days after a penalty, or a further breach within five years.
Section 90 adds that a court may not make a possession order while the landlord is in breach of the duty to be registered, unless the ground is Ground 7A or Ground 14 (anti-social behaviour). A breach does not make the tenancy itself invalid.
The database and the Landlord Ombudsman
They are separate schemes under Part 2 of the same Act. The government's guide to the Act says all private landlords with assured or regulated tenancies will have to join a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman, including those who use a managing agent. The Private Landlord Redress Schemes (Approval and Designation) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/1033), in force since 17 September 2026, set how such a scheme is approved or designated; they do not set a date for landlords to join, and the guide says landlords will be given notice of it. Registering on the database does not make you a member of the Ombudsman scheme.
Where PropertySurvey Pro fits
- Property details on site: record each room's condition, with photos and notes, so bedroom counts and the property type are confirmed by someone who has been inside.
- EPC on the report: fetch the official rating from the GOV.UK register and show it on the PDF. How the EPC lookup works.
- Services noted: reusable wording for the consumer unit, gas supply and appliances, so the report can flag an EICR or gas safety record that is due. Smart Builder templates.
- Dated evidence (Pro): print the date and time each photo was taken or added.
- On site and offline: the PDF is built on your device before you leave.
The app does not register properties or connect to the government's service. It gives you a dated record of the home to check your entries against.
Get each home's record in order
Genuinely free to start: offline inspections and PDF reports with a small app footer. Upgrade to Pro when you're ready for your own branding, dated photos and the full toolkit.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Private Rented Sector Database start?
Under the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, registration opens region by region: the West Midlands on 15 December 2026, then one region a month until the South West on 15 August 2027, subject to Parliament approving the draft regulations. The government says landlords in each region will have three months to sign up and that all landlords actively letting property will need to be registered by 14 November 2027.
How much does it cost to register on the landlord database?
A fee is payable for each dwelling entry and for each yearly renewal. The draft Regulations do not set the amount: the database operator sets it by reference to the costs of running and enforcing the database. No fee had been published on GOV.UK when we checked on 28 September 2026.
Who has to register on the Private Rented Sector Database?
Private landlords in England who let a home on an assured tenancy or a regulated tenancy. Social housing is outside the definition, and the draft Regulations exclude supported exempt accommodation. Joint landlords each make their own landlord entry and share one entry for the home.
Can a letting agent register a property for the landlord?
Not the entries themselves, unless the agent is acting in a capacity the Regulations list, such as under a power of attorney. The draft Regulations do let a letting agent or property manager provide and update the tenancy and safety information for a home on the landlord’s behalf.
What is the penalty for not registering?
A council can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for letting, marketing or advertising a home without the required entries or registration numbers, and up to £40,000 for an offence such as knowingly giving false information or carrying on after a penalty. A court also cannot make a possession order while the landlord is in breach, except on the anti-social behaviour grounds 7A and 14.
Does PropertySurvey Pro register my property on the database?
No. PropertySurvey Pro records inspections and produces reports; it does not submit anything to the government’s service. The landlord remains responsible for making and keeping the entries up to date, and for the accuracy of what they submit.