Register Your Rental Property Service

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 introduced a new requirement for landlords in in England to register their property on a database and provide key information when they register.

This requirement was not introduced on 1st May 2026 with the rest of the Renters' Rights Act as it required more legislation to set out the details of the database.

On 9th September 2026, the Government published The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026. This sets out when landlords have to register by and what information needs to be given about themselves and their tenanted property.

Registration for the new database - known as the 'Register Your Rental Property Service' - will open on 15th December 2026, with different deadlines for each region to register by. This starts with the West Midlands, where landlords must register by March 14th 2027.

Failure to register with the database can lead to serious penalties so it is vital that landlords who need to sign up, do so promptly. Penalties include fines of up to £40,000, rent repayment orders, or being barred from gaining possession of the property. 

This guide is based on the available legislation and statements from the Government. However, more information still needs to be published about how to register and how agents can be involved in the process. We will be updating it regularly ahead of registrations opening. 

How do landlords register?

To create an active entry on the database, each landlord will have to create a landlord entry and a separate 'dwelling entry' for each property they own. A fee of £65 per annum is required for each property.

As part of the registration, landlords will have to provide key details about their tenancy, the property, as well as their contact details. 

Once this done they will obtain a unique reference number for themselves and each property they let on an assured or regulated tenancy before the regional deadline for their property.

They will then receive a Landlord Registration Number and a Property Registration Number. 

Landlords must also register any currently vacant properties on the database when they are occupied on an assured tenancy.

Where can landlords register?

Registration will be done online via a website provided by the Government or via a form provided by the Government. Further details, including a link to the registration portal will be published closer to December 15th 2026.

Which properties need to be registered?

Initially, you only need to register a property if it's let under an assured or regulated tenancy. You won't need to register unoccupied properties until they become occupied under an assured tenancy.

In the future, once the public interface is finished, this will change. At that point, legislation will be introduced requiring landlords to register before marketing a property for let under an assured tenancy. No date has been set for this yet, though.

When can landlords register from?

Registration opens on December 15th 2026 for all landlords in England, but the registration requirement will initially apply only to the West Midlands. 

When do landlords need to register by?

The requirement to register on the database will roll out region by region, so the deadline for completing registration will depend on the region the landlord's properties are based in.

Once registration is required in the region, landlords will have three months to pay the fee and register each property. This means that landlords in the West Midlands, the first region, will need to have registered their occupied properties by March 14th 2027 at the latest. 

After the deadline passes, if your property is still unregistered, then local authorities may begin enforcement action against you for breaching the database requirements. 

What information will need to be provided?

Landlords will need to provide key information about themselves, the property, the tenancy and the status of any safety certificates when they register each property.

To help landlords prepare the information, the Government has published a full list of the information they will need to have to hand when they begin registration. 

Landlord registration

Each landlord entry will need to include the following information depending on their ownership structure:

Individual landlord details

• Name
• Date of birth 
• Residential address 
• Telephone number 
• Email address 

Company landlord details

• Name of organisation/description by which it is known 
• Type of legal entity 
• Address (which cannot be a PO Box number) 
• Telephone number 
• Email address 
• Name, date of birth, email address and telephone number of the individual making the entry on behalf of the organisation. 
• Name of nominated contact within the organisation for the purposes of the database, and their email address and telephone number. 
• Companies House Registration number, if applicable. 
• Charity number, if applicable. 
• Where a Companies House registration number is not provided, the names, dates of birth and addresses of all directors, trustees, partners or members of the governing body of the organisation. 
• Where the organisation is a constituted as a trust, the name, date of birth, address, email address and telephone number of the lead trustee. 

Property registration

Registering the property will require you to provide key information about the tenancy and the property itself. Some of which will also be included in your tenancy agreement. These are:

Property details

• The address
• Name(s), email address, and service address of the landlord
• Ownership type (freehold, leasehold, etc)
• The name and email address of the freeholder, property manager, or superior landlord
• The type of dwelling (flat, terraced, semi-detached, etc)
• Number of bedrooms
• Whether the dwelling is currently let

Tenancy and rent details

• The amount of rent, whether it includes bills, and how often it needs to be paid
• The number of people living in the property (tenants and permitted occupiers but not short term guests)
• The number of households (i.e. how many unrelated people live in the property and whether it is a HMO)
• Whether the property needs a selective, additional or mandatory HMO licence and whether it has one
• Whether it's furnished, part furnished or unfurnished

Safety standards

• If the property has gas fittings, the most recent gas safety record and the date it was issued. 
• A current valid Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) or an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) and the date it expires on
• The most recent energy performance certificate (EPC) and information on whether one needed to be given to the tenant.
• If the EPC has expired, the start date of the latest tenancy. 
• If the property does not meet the current minimum energy efficiency standards, details of any exemptions that have been registered for the property.

Once the registration deadline has passed, landlords who do not have an active registration for their property may face enforcement action by the local authority. 

Landlords will also have a duty to maintain their database entries, update any changes, and correct any errors within a reasonable time. 

Duty to maintain and update the database entry

Once registered, landlords must maintain an active database entry for the property throughout the tenancy. 

This means that once the landlord registers the property, they must renew the registration each year and do anything else required to keep it active. 

As part of this, they will also be required to keep the database record up to date. If any of the property details change, the landlord must update the record within 28 days. This will typically occur where:

• The gas or electrical safety certificates are renewed
• The landlord obtains a new EPC or registers a new exemption from MEES.
• The rent changes
• There is a change change to the number of occupiers

Marketing and advertising restrictions for unregistered properties

In the future, it will be an offence to market a dwelling for let on an assured tenancy unless the property has an active registration on the database. This offence will apply to any landlords, letting agents, or anyone else who advertises the property as available to let. 

When this part of the legislation comes in, adverts will also have to include both the Landlord and Property Reference Numbers in adverts so tenants can check the database. 

No date has been set for this yet, and until it does, you are not required to register while marketing a property for let. It is likely to come in at the same time as the requirement to register unoccupied properties and the launch of the public-facing portal for tenants. 

Who can look at the entry on the database and what can they see?

Local authorities and the mayoral authorities will have access to the information on the database, but only for use with their housing and tenancy related functions.

In the future, tenants will also be able to access some of the information held on the database, but the government has not confirmed when this will happen.

When the public portal is available and tenants can access the database, the Government has indicated they will have only limited access to 'key legal requirements', while also balancing landlords' privacy concerns. 

Failing to register with the database can have serious consequences and landlords should ensure they do not fall foul of the requirements. 

Civil penalty offences 

Sections 82 of the Renters' Rights Act create civil penalty offences for:

• Marketing a property for let without an active landlord and property entry on the database
• Not including the unique landlord and property reference number in any adverts
• Failing to update the database record after it changes

These offences carry a maximum civil penalty of up £7,000.

Section 92 of the Renters' Rights Act also makes it an offence to:

• Knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information to the database; or
• Continuing to breach the database requirements after being convicted of, or receiving a civil penalty for, a breach of Section 82 of the Renters' Rights Act. This occurs where the landlord commits another offence within five years or does not stop the behaviour within 28 days of the initial penalty.

Local authorities may issue a civil penalty of up to £40,000 where this occurs. 

Rent repayment orders

Section 98 of the Renters' Rights Act allows tenants to also apply for a rent repayment order where the landlord has:

• Knowingly or recklessly provided false information to the database; or
• Not registered on the database within 28 days of receiving a civil penalty or conviction.

Powers of entry

Local authorities can also enter residential premises without a warrant if they suspect the property is being let on a residential tenancy and there is no active registration on the database. 

Restrictions on regaining possession

Unless possession is being sought on the grounds of anti-social behaviour, Section 90 of the Renters' Rights Act prevents a court from granting possession orders while the landlord does not have both an active landlord entry and an active dwelling entry in the database. 

Barred from registering on the database

In particularly serious cases of wrongdoing, landlords may be subject to a banning order that prevents them from letting property. In that case, the landlord may not register any property on the database. 

Similarly, if the landlord is subject to a banning order, their active entry on the database will be deactivated.

Is the fee payable every year?

Yes, the fee of £65 is paid on renewal each year for each property. The payment must be made on or before the anniversary of the first registration. 

Is the fee a tax deductible expense?

This should be an allowable expense that you can deduct from your rental profits. It is a fee paid by you wholly for the purpose of renting your property, and similar registration portals like Rent Smart Wales are tax deductible. 

Will new gas or electrical safety certificates need to be uploaded when the last one expires?

Yes, when the required information for the entry changes, landlords must update the record within 28 days of the change occurring. 

When will the database be searchable?

No date has been set for this. We will update our members when this occurs.

Do I need to register a property that is empty?

Not yet but eventually you will if you plan to let it out on an assured tenancy. The Government has indicated this requirement will come in once the public-facing portal is available for tenants to view.

Will an EPC be required at all times for the database?

No. Currently, an EPC is only required when the property is marketed for let. If the tenancy predates the EPC legislation, doesn't require an EPC at all, or the EPC has lapsed since the last tenancy began, then there is no requirement to get a new one. In these cases, landlords must provide the tenancy start date though.

Will there be an option to bulk upload documents and registration information?

Once registration opens, we understand that there will be no option to register multiple properties at once, or provide bulk uploads of property information.

Landlords with larger portfolios should bear this in mind and begin registration early to allow enough time to complete registration of all their properties prior to the deadline. 

How do I know which region my property is in?

Each region is a group of local councils with a shared deadline for registration. The full list of councils and the deadline for properties in that area to register by are found in Schedule 1 of the The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026.