The PRS Database is not open yet

When will it open?

On 9 September 2026 the government announced that the Register your rental property service opens on 15 December 2026. The duty then starts region by region, beginning in the West Midlands. Once a region is called forward, landlords have three months to register properties there that are let. Every landlord actively letting in England is expected to be registered by 14 November 2027. The November 2025 implementation roadmap had only said late 2026.

Those dates are set out in the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, which have been laid before Parliament and are not yet made. The database provisions of the Act also need a commencement order before the duty to register exists. Until the service is live and those instruments are in force, there is nothing to file and no penalty for not being on the register.

Register by means midnight at the end of that region's three-month window. From 15 December 2026 the government says you can register before your region is called forward, including a portfolio spread across several regions. The deadline still follows each property's location.

See the 9 September 2026 announcement, the draft regulations, the Act on legislation.gov.uk and the November 2025 implementation roadmap.

Who must register

Private landlords in England with an assured or regulated tenancy will have to register themselves and each property they let, once the duty starts in the region where the property is. During this first phase that means properties that are already let, or that become let while rollout is under way. Supported exempt accommodation, as defined in section 12 of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, is outside the database. The Act does not create this register for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The landlord has to start the registration. A letting agent can supply some of the information, but the landlord stays responsible. The deadline follows the property's location, not where the landlord lives.

Empty properties do not have to be registered in this first phase. The government has said a later stage will require registration before a property is marketed, and that adverts will have to carry the landlord and property registration numbers.

What to have ready

The draft regulations require a landlord entry and a dwelling entry for each let. For a property that is already occupied, the tenancy and safety documents can follow within 28 days of the dwelling entry. If a detail later changes, the entry has to be updated within 28 days. Someone registering under a power of attorney, as an executor, or in a similar role has to upload evidence of that authority.

• For an individual landlord: name, date of birth, home address, phone number and email
• For a company, charity or other organisation: its name, legal form and address (not a PO Box), a nominated contact, and the Companies House or charity number. If there is no Companies House number, the names, dates of birth and addresses of the directors, trustees or partners
• For each property: the address, ownership type, dwelling type, number of bedrooms, and whether it is currently let
• For a property that is let: how many people and households live there, any HMO, additional or selective licence number, the rent and how often it is paid, whether utilities are included, and whether it is furnished
• Where the property has gas: the gas safety record and its issue date
• Electrical safety evidence: an EICR, or an EIC for a new build or full rewire, and the relevant date
• The EPC given to the current tenant, where one was required, and any registered MEES exemption if the rating is below the legal minimum

Registration will be on a government website, with a paper form for landlords who need an offline route. Expired certificates are the thing that will block a pack. Use the certificate renewal calculator and check licensing on the council directory if the property is in a selective or additional scheme.

The fee

The government has said landlords will pay £65 a year for each property. There is no separate fee for the landlord entry. The fee is paid when the dwelling entry is made and again at each 12-month renewal. The draft regulations do not write £65 into the instrument. They say the database operator sets the amount by reference to the cost of running the service and enforcing the rules. Treat £65 as the announced figure and check GOV.UK before you budget from it.

Penalties (once commenced)

Section 91 of the Act lets a council impose a financial penalty of up to £7,000 where it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has breached section 82: marketing a dwelling without an active landlord and dwelling entry, advertising without the registration numbers, or a landlord failing to keep those entries active and up to date. Knowingly or recklessly giving information that is false or misleading is an offence under section 92, and a council can impose a penalty of up to £40,000 for that instead of prosecuting. The government has said councils can start enforcement after the three-month window for that region. It has also said the ban on marketing an unregistered property, and the requirement to put registration numbers on adverts, follow later, when the public part of the service is rolled out. Section 91 sets the ceilings.

How this fits the rest of the Act

Phase 1 has been in force since 1 May 2026: Section 21 abolished and tenancies are periodic. The information-sheet deadline of 31 May 2026 has passed. The database is the next phase, with the service due to open on 15 December 2026. The landlord ombudsman follows later. The Renters' Rights Act hub and the complete guide cover the rest.