Rental housing database a multi-million pound 'rip-off'

Plans for a private rented sector database are set to cost over £325 million whilst providing an extremely limited service to tenants and landlords, according to the National Residential Landlords Association.

From December the Government will roll out the planned database, a central part of its Renters’ Rights Act. The cost, which stands at £65 per year for every rental property, is almost seven times the figure ministers envisaged in the Impact Assessment for the Renters’ Rights Bill. With just over five million private rented sector dwellings in England, this means the database will cost the sector a minimum of £327 million per year. A cost that will ultimately be borne by renters.  

Despite these projected costs, much of the information being provided to the database simply replicates what landlords are already required to give to councils where licensing schemes are in operation. Such schemes can cost as much as £2,300 per property.

At present there are no plans by the Government to digitise gas and electrical safety certificates in the same way as Energy Performance Certificates. The fact that such certificates will need to be manually scanned and uploaded onto the database will only add to the administrative costs of compliance. This will be particularly burdensome for larger landlords, including build-to-rent providers managing hundreds or thousands of properties.   

Meanwhile the sector is still awaiting details of the cost to join the new private rented sector Ombudsman scheme, which most expect to be significantly more expensive, and is preparing for a tax hike on rental income from 2027.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said:

“A well-designed database should make it easy for landlords to demonstrate compliance with their obligations; empower tenants; and be truly digital in every way. This looks likely to fail on every count.

“What we have on offer is a costly mess. It expects payment for landlords to provide much the same information as many already give their councils, with no additional benefit to them or their customers. 

“The mind boggles that landlords are to be forced to pay more to manually upload documents to a website than mechanics are permitted to charge to carry out an MOT check, which includes a comprehensive, hands-on examination of a car’s roadworthiness. Frankly, landlords and tenants are being ripped off in the name of consumer protection.

“The hundreds of millions the sector will be expected to pour into this thin gruel of a database would be far better spent helping landlords meet the Government’s energy efficiency targets.”            

-ENDS-

Notes:

• Full details of the regulations to implement the Private Rented Sector Database can be accessed here. The Explanatory Note to accompany it can be accessed here.
• The original impact assessment for what was then the Renters’ Rights Bill can be accessed here. Page 88 of the document said: “Landlords will be required to re-register on the Private Rented Sector Database every three years” and page 89 said of the planned Database: “the assumed per property registration fee is £28.58”.
• The Government’s ‘Register Your Rental Property’ website notes that registration will cost £65 per property each year. See details here.
• MHCLG data shows that there are 5,030,000 private rented dwellings in England. This brings the minimum cost of registering all these properties at £326,950,000.
• The most expensive landlord licensing scheme in the country is actually run by Arun District Council. As it stands, they charge £2,347 for a 3 or 4 person house or flat/apartment in the areas designated as requiring and Additional HMO License.
• The maximum fee that can be charged for an MOT on a car is currently £54.85.
• From next April, income tax rates on rental income will increase by two percentage points.
• Further information about the NRLA can be found at www.nrla.org.uk.  It posts on X @NRLAssociation.
• The NRLA’s press office can be contacted by emailing [email protected] or by calling 0300 131 6363.