Everything a letting agency needs to know about England’s new landlord register, the PRS database, on one page: who does what, the 28 days, the hours it takes, every region’s deadline, and what to do before yours opens. Checked against the GOV.UK guidance for letting agents of 29 October 2026.
England’s new register of private landlords and the homes they let, often called the PRS database or the landlord database. The government runs it through its Register your rental property service on GOV.UK. It opens on 15 December 2026, one region at a time, and each region has three months to finish.
Landlords pay £65 a home each year, on GOV.UK. The register covers England only: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own.
The landlord
Your agency
GOV.UK tells the landlord whenever your agency’s part is submitted. Anyone in your agency with a home’s link and password can update its registration, so who holds them matters.
| The register asks for | Where you will find it |
|---|---|
| Any HMO, additional or selective licence | The licence itself, or the council that issued it |
| The number of tenants and households | Your tenancy records |
| Furnished, part furnished or unfurnished | Your inventory |
| The rent, and any bills it includes | The tenancy agreement |
| The gas safety certificate, if the home has a gas supply, with its date | The certificate |
| The electrical certificate (EICR or EIC), with its date | The certificate |
| The energy certificate (EPC), with its date | The certificate |
Nothing else. Every date should come from the certificate itself, because your agency is responsible for the accuracy of what it submits.
Letting agents who tested the register took 20 to 25 minutes a home (Kamma, 2026). With no bulk upload, the hours grow with every home you manage, and they fall inside your region’s three months.
| Homes you manage | Hours for your team | Weeks of one person, full time |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 33 to 42 | 0.9 to 1.1 |
| 250 | 83 to 104 | 2.2 to 2.8 |
| 500 | 167 to 208 | 4.5 to 5.5 |
| 1,000 | 333 to 417 | 8.9 to 11.1 |
A full-time week here is 37.5 hours. Work out your own agency’s figures in two minutes.
| Region | Opens | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Humberside | 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 |
During the rollout, the homes that have to be registered by your region’s deadline are those let on an assured periodic or regulated tenancy on that date, and any home let after it.
A landlord can be fined up to £7,000 for breaking the register rules, such as letting a home that is not registered. The fine is up to £40,000, or prosecution, for knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information, for carrying on a breach more than 28 days after a fine, or for repeating one within five years. A landlord who is not registered also loses most routes to possession.
For your agency, the risk sits in the entries: you are responsible for the accuracy of what you submit, and a part not submitted within 28 days leaves the registration inactive.
Letting agents already publish their fees, as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires. Whether to charge your landlords a register fee for your agency’s part, and how much, is your decision. The £65 is separate: it is the landlord’s to pay on GOV.UK. See what a register fee could earn your agency, and send your landlords a letter about it.
Nine things to have in hand before the first link arrives. Tick them off as you go; your ticks stay in this browser and nowhere else.
0 of 9 done.
The register is kept up, not finished. A new tenant, a new rent or a renewed certificate has to be updated within 28 days of the change, by anyone in your agency who holds that home’s link and password.
The government has said that, in future, a home will have to be registered before it can be marketed, and its adverts will have to show the landlord and property registration numbers. That rule is not in force yet.
Sources: the GOV.UK guidance for letting agents and property managers, for landlords and for third parties; the government’s civil penalties guidance; the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 83; and Kamma’s test of the register. This guide explains the rules; it is not legal advice.