England is getting its first national register of private landlords and rental homes. The PRS Database, which the government runs as the Register your rental property service, opens in stages from 15 December 2026. London landlords can register from 15 July 2027 and must be registered by 14 October 2027.
Registration will not be optional. Every landlord letting a home on an assured or regulated tenancy will have to register themselves and each property, pay an annual fee, and keep the details up to date. Here is what that means if you let property in London.
What is the PRS Database?
The Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database was created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the same Act that ended Section 21 on 1 May 2026. It is a national register with two parts:
- a landlord entry for you, which gives you a Landlord Registration Number;
- a dwelling entry for each rental home, which gives it a Property Registration Number.
Its stated aims are to give tenants more transparency, raise standards across the rental sector and help councils identify landlords who are not complying.
Who needs to register?
Any landlord in England who lets, or intends to let, a home on an assured or regulated tenancy. Since 1 May 2026 almost every private tenancy is an assured periodic tenancy, so in practice this means nearly every private landlord, whether you own one flat or an entire portfolio.
A few points worth knowing:
- Where the property is decides your dates, not where you live. A landlord based abroad or outside London registers a London flat in London’s window.
- Each home is a separate entry. A house converted into four flats is expected to need four dwelling entries, and four fees.
- Some homes are outside it. Social housing and certain supported accommodation are exempt, and a landlord subject to a banning order cannot register at all.
- Short lets. A property used only for holiday or short stays is not let on an assured tenancy. If it moves between short stays and long lets, as a hybrid letting strategy does, it needs registering before it is advertised or let to a long-term tenant.
When do London landlords need to register?
The database opens one region at a time. Each region has three months to register, and every landlord in England should be registered by 14 November 2027.
| Region | Registration opens | Deadline to register |
|---|---|---|
| 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 the 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 |
These dates come from draft regulations the government laid before Parliament on 9 September 2026, so they could still change. We will update this guide if they do.
How much will it cost?
The government has announced a fee of £65 per property, per year. It is an ongoing charge, not a one-off registration fee: each entry lasts twelve months and must be renewed, or it becomes inactive. A landlord with ten flats would pay £650 a year.
What information will you need?
Registration asks for property and compliance records, so expect to provide:
- your details: your name and contact details, or your company’s details if you let through a company;
- property and ownership details: the address, the type of property and who owns it;
- rental and occupancy information, such as the number of bedrooms and how the property is let;
- safety and energy certificates: the gas safety record, the electrical installation condition report (EICR) and the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC);
- property licensing details, where your borough requires a licence.
Once you are registered, your entries must stay accurate: anything that changes has to be updated within 28 days. You can also authorise your letting or managing agent to supply some of the property information for you.
What happens if you do not register?
The penalties are designed to make registration hard to ignore:
- Fines of up to £7,000 for letting or advertising a property without active landlord and property entries.
- Fines of up to £40,000, or prosecution, for repeated or continuing breaches, or for giving false or misleading information.
- No possession order. Without an up-to-date registration, a landlord cannot get a court order to regain their property, except on antisocial behaviour grounds. With Section 21 gone, every possession claim already relies on a Section 8 ground and the court, so this matters.
- No advertising. Letting agents must not market a property without active registration numbers, and property portals and other advertisers will have to show them on listings.
How to prepare now
London’s window is about nine months away, but most of what registration asks for is what a well-run let already has. Use the time to check that:
- Your certificates are in date. A gas safety record every year, an EICR at least every five years and a valid EPC, with copies ready to upload.
- Your licensing is in order. Many London boroughs run additional or selective licensing schemes. Check whether your property needs a licence and that it is current.
- Your ownership records are clear, especially for jointly owned properties or those held in a company.
- The dates are in your diary. Plan to register early in London’s window rather than on the last day, and budget £65 a year for each property.
Stay informed and compliant with MX
Keeping certificates, licences and records in order is part of managing a property properly, and the PRS Database will make it visible. If you would like to know where your property stands, or want help getting ready for London’s window, get in touch.
This article is general information, not legal advice. The PRS Database applies to private rented homes in England. The dates and fee come from the government’s announcement and draft regulations of September 2026 and may change before they are final.
Sources: The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), legislation.gov.uk · House of Commons Library, Renters’ reform in England: what’s happening and when? · HomeLet, PRS Database for landlords · Osborne Clarke, Renters’ Rights Act Phase 2