Landlord Register (PRS Database): Registration Dates by Region and What Agents Should Do

England's first national landlord register opens on 15 December 2026. Landlords with let property in the West Midlands go first, and every other region follows on a monthly cycle until the South West closes on 14 November 2027.

The government calls the service "Register your rental property". In legislation it is the Private Rented Sector Database, created by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Each landlord registers once, then adds every rented dwelling, at £65 per property per year.

For letting agents, this is the first compliance deadline since 1 May 2026 that lands on every landlord in a region within the same three months. So which date applies to your branch, what does the landlord have to supply, and where does the agent fit in?

What is the landlord register under the Renters' Rights Act?

It is a mandatory online register of private landlords and the homes they let in England. Landlords of properties let on assured or regulated tenancies must create a landlord entry and a dwelling entry for each property. Supported exempt accommodation is excluded.

The private rented sector database is a Phase 2 measure in the government's implementation roadmap. Councils will have full access for enforcement, and the government has said tenants will later be able to view some information through a public-facing part of the service.

One point is easy to miss. As of October 2026, only properties that are let, or about to be let, must be registered. Empty properties being marketed are not yet in scope. The government has said it will bring them in through future legislation, alongside a requirement for landlord and property identifiers to appear in adverts. No date has been confirmed for that second step.

When does each region have to register on the PRS Database?

Registration follows the location of the property, not where the landlord lives. A Leeds landlord with a flat in Coventry registers that flat in the West Midlands window.

Each region gets a three-month window. Councils can start enforcement once the regional deadline has passed. Landlords can register early.

Region	Requirement starts	Registration deadline (midnight)
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 and 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

Source: Register your rental property guidance, Housing Hub (GOV.UK campaign site), updated 10 September 2026. Dates correct as of October 2026.

An agency with branches in two regions will run two separate registration drives, months apart. A London agency has until 14 October 2027; a Birmingham agency has until 14 March 2027.

How much does the PRS Database cost landlords?

The fee is £65 per property per year, renewed annually. The government has confirmed it will be pro-rated during the rollout. A landlord with six lets pays £390 a year at the full rate.

The fee sits with the landlord. Whether an agency absorbs it, recharges it or offers registration as a paid service is a commercial decision, and one worth making before the window opens rather than during it.

What do landlords have to register?

The Housing Hub guidance lists five groups of information:

• Landlord details. Name, date of birth, residential address, phone and email for individuals. Company landlords add entity type, a nominated contact, Companies House number and, in some cases, director details.

• Dwelling details. Address, ownership type, dwelling type, number of bedrooms, whether it is let, and any freeholder, superior landlord or property manager.

• Tenancy details. Number of occupants and households, any HMO, additional or selective licence, and furnishing status.

• Rent. Amount, payment frequency and whether utilities are included.

• Health and safety. Gas safety record, EICR or EIC with expiry date, EPC information and any MEES exemption.

Company landlords need their Companies House number to hand. If you are not sure whether a home on your book is held personally or through a company, our guide to checking whether a property is owned by a limited company walks through the HM Land Registry data.

The draft regulations' explanatory memorandum says the let-property information must be supplied within 28 days of the entry being created, and changes generally need recording within 28 days.

The health and safety section is not the only place standards are moving. Our guide to Awaab's Law and private landlords covers the hazard rules that apply to the same homes.

The register asks for the same certificates a managing agent already holds on file. For a self-managing landlord, it may be the first time anyone has asked to see them all at once.

What are the penalties for not registering?

The GOV.UK Guide to the Renters' Rights Act sets civil penalties of up to £7,000 for failing to register, rising to £40,000 for repeated or serious breaches. The bigger practical risk sits in possession: a landlord who is not registered cannot obtain possession, except on the serious anti-social behaviour grounds (Grounds 7A and 14).

Since Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026, every possession claim runs through Section 8 grounds. An unregistered landlord who needs to sell or move back in loses that route until the entry is in place. That is the conversation that gets a landlord's attention.

Who is responsible if a letting agent manages the property?

The landlord. Housing Hub guidance says the landlord must start the registration and stays responsible for all the information, even when an agent is used. An agent or property manager can upload certain information on the landlord's behalf, and the draft regulations let landlords delegate updates to an agent. The government has said guidance for agents will be published before launch; as of October 2026 it has not appeared.

So the agent cannot register a landlord, but can do almost everything else.

What should letting agents do before their region opens?

A working checklist for the weeks before your window:

1. Map your book by region. List every managed and let-only property against the table above. Branches near a regional boundary need particular care.

2. Audit the certificates. Gas safety, EICR, EPC and any licence number for every property. Missing or expired documents are better found now than in week ten of the window.

3. Decide your service model. Included in full management, a fixed fee for let-only landlords, or guidance only. Put it in writing.

4. Update terms of business. Add the authority to upload and maintain database information on the landlord's behalf, and make clear the landlord remains responsible.

5. Brief landlords early. A short letter or email per region, timed four to six weeks before the start date, with the fee, the deadline and what you need from them.

6. Diary the renewals. Registration is annual. Treat it like a gas safety renewal.

7. Watch for agent guidance. Check GOV.UK before launch for the promised agent guidance and adjust the checklist.

In Propalt, Location Analysis maps every property in your patch, including landlord-owned homes and HMOs, which makes step 1 quicker for branches near a regional boundary. For the wording, see how to write a letter that gets read.

Why is the PRS Database a reason for self-managing landlords to talk to an agent?

Because it puts a date, a fee and a document list in front of every landlord in a region at the same time, including the ones who have never used an agent.

Take Birmingham's B29 outcode (Selly Oak). On 26 October 2026, Propalt's letting market data showed 968 homes listed to rent on Rightmove and Zoopla in B29 (each property counted once), and 648 of them were owned by private individuals rather than companies. Every one of those landlords must register by 14 March 2027.

Much of that stock is shared housing. On the same day, 860 of the homes listed to rent on Rightmove and Zoopla in B29 were flagged as HMOs in Propalt's letting data, and the register asks for any HMO licence alongside the certificates.

Some will register without help. Others will find the certificates are out of date, or that their tenancy information is incomplete. A letter that explains the West Midlands deadline, lists what the register asks for and offers to handle the upload is useful to them. It also opens a conversation about full management at the moment the landlord is reviewing their compliance anyway.

A regional deadline gives every self-managing landlord in your patch the same question at the same time. The agent who answers it first earns the next conversation.

The window also works in reverse. Agents in the South West have nearly a year to watch how the West Midlands rollout goes, then contact their own landlords with real examples of where registrations stalled.

For more on building a landlord list in the first place, see our guide to finding landlords. For every other Renters' Rights Act date, see The Renters' Rights Act 2025: Every Date Letting Agents Need.

📌 KEY TAKEAWAY

The landlord register opens region by region from 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, with a £65 per property annual fee and penalties of up to £7,000, rising to £40,000. The landlord stays responsible, but agents can upload most of the information, which makes registration a service you can offer to managed landlords and a reason to contact self-managing ones before their window closes. To see which landlords in your area that applies to, the Landlords audience in Audience Builder turns them into a mailing list.

SOURCES & DATA REFERENCES

1. Housing Hub, GOV.UK campaign site (updated 10 September 2026). 'Get ready: Register your rental property service.' Regional start dates and deadlines, £65 fee and pro-rating, who must register, information required, agent role, empty properties not yet in scope. housinghub.campaign.gov.uk/renting-is-changing/get-ready-to-register/

2. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (first published 13 November 2025). 'Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025: our roadmap for reforming the private rented sector.' PRS Database as a Phase 2 measure, 1 May 2026 Phase 1 changes. gov.uk/government/publications/renters-rights-act-2025-implementation-roadmap

3. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (first published 6 November 2025). 'Guide to the Renters' Rights Act.' Civil penalties of up to £7,000 rising to £40,000; unregistered landlords unable to obtain possession except under Grounds 7A and 14. gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act

4. legislation.gov.uk (2026). 'Explanatory Memorandum to the Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026.' Landlord and dwelling entries, 28-day requirement for let-property information, delegation to agents, supported exempt accommodation exemption. legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2026/9780348286861

5. legislation.gov.uk (2026). 'The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/421.' Tenancy reform, including the end of Section 21, in force 1 May 2026. legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/421

6. Devonshires Solicitors (10 September 2026). 'Renters' Rights Act: PRS Database rollout begins in December 2026.' Confirms regional timetable, renewal and penalties; planned future rules on unoccupied properties and identifiers in adverts. insights.devonshires.com/post/102o0pc

7. Propalt (October 2026). Letting market activity, B29 outcode (Selly Oak, Birmingham), properties listed to rent on 26 October 2026: 968 in total, 648 with a private individual proprietor. Rightmove and Zoopla listings only, deduplicated by property; not every rented home in B29. Propalt platform data.

8. Propalt (October 2026). Letting market activity, B29 outcode (Selly Oak, Birmingham), properties listed to rent on 26 October 2026 flagged as HMO properties: 860. Rightmove and Zoopla listings only, deduplicated by property. Propalt platform data.