PRS Database Registration: What UK Landlords Need to Know

What is the PRS Database?

The PRS Database is a centralised national register of all private landlords and their rental properties in England. It is designed to bring transparency to the private rented sector by giving tenants, councils, and landlords themselves a single, reliable source of landlord and property information.

The database serves three core purposes:

• Tenants: Make more informed choices when renting, with access to landlord compliance records and property details
• Landlords: Demonstrate compliance with legal obligations in one place, reducing the burden of responding to individual enforcement requests
• Local councils: Identify non-compliant landlords more efficiently and target enforcement action where it is needed most

Think of it as a public-facing register that links your identity as a landlord to every property you let, along with evidence that you are meeting your legal responsibilities. It replaces the current fragmented approach where different obligations are tracked by different bodies with no central oversight.

When does the PRS Database launch?

The PRS Database is scheduled to launch in late 2026 as part of Phase 2 of the Renters' Rights Act implementation. The government published its implementation roadmap on 13 November 2025, which sets out the phased rollout.

The exact launch date for Phase 2 has not been confirmed. The government has stated it will provide further detail and guidance as the launch approaches. Given the scale of building a national database, some industry commentators expect a Q3-Q4 2026 opening with a transition period for existing landlords to register.

Rolling out by area — not all at once

The PRS Database will not go live simultaneously across England. Registration will be activated on an area-by-area basis, with local authorities bringing their patches online at different times from late 2026. This means landlords in some areas will be required to register earlier than others.

What this means in practice: watch for announcements from your local council rather than waiting for a single national launch date. Once your area activates, you will need to register promptly — the loss of possession grounds kicks in immediately for unregistered landlords in active areas.

Who needs to register?

All private landlords letting residential property in England must register on the PRS Database. There are no exemptions based on portfolio size, property type, or whether you use a letting agent.

Registration is mandatory if you:

• ✓ Let a single buy-to-let property
• ✓ Own a portfolio of rental properties
• ✓ Let through a letting agent or managing agent
• ✓ Let a room under a lodger arrangement (details TBC)
• ✓ Are a company or trust that lets residential property

Using a letting agent does not remove the obligation. Even if an agent manages every aspect of the tenancy, the landlord remains legally responsible for registration. Agents may assist with the process, but the duty sits with the property owner.

What information is required?

Landlords will need to provide personal contact details, property information for each rental, and evidence of safety certificate compliance. The full data specification will be published before the database opens.

Based on the Renters' Rights Act provisions and government guidance published so far, expect to provide:

Landlord details

• Full name and contact information
• Correspondence address
• Proof of identity (form TBC)
• Company/trust details if applicable

Property information (per property)

• Full property address
• Property type (house, flat, HMO, etc.)
• Number of bedrooms
• Current tenancy status
• Letting agent details (if applicable)

Safety and compliance certificates

• Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) - date and expiry
• EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) - date and expiry
• EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) - rating and expiry
• Any required licensing (HMO, selective, additional)

The database will cross-reference records with existing registers to verify landlord claims. Specifically, local authorities will be able to match against:

• EPC register — to verify energy performance certificates and identify rental properties
• MEES exemptions register — to cross-check any sub-standard EPC exemptions landlords have claimed
• Gas Safe register — to verify Gas Safety Certificate validity

This cross-referencing means discrepancies between what a landlord submits and what these registers hold will be automatically flagged for enforcement action. Keeping accurate, up-to-date records now will make registration straightforward when it opens.

Fees and penalties

There will be an annual registration fee for the PRS Database, though the exact amount has not been set. Non-registration is a criminal offence in addition to carrying civil financial penalties.

The government has indicated the fee will be set at a level to cover the costs of running the database, not as a revenue-raising measure. For context, existing local authority licensing schemes typically charge between £500 and £1,000 per property over five years, so a PRS Database fee is widely expected to be more modest given its national scale. We will update this page as soon as fee details are published.

What happens if you do not register?

The consequences of non-registration are severe and deliberately designed to make the database impossible to ignore. The government chose these penalties specifically because they hit landlords where it matters most: the ability to recover a property.

1. Loss of most Section 8 possession grounds

This is the critical consequence. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, landlords who are not registered on the PRS Database lose access to most Section 8 grounds for possession. In practical terms, this means:

• You cannot serve a valid Section 8 notice citing rent arrears
• You cannot use the standard possession grounds for anti-social behaviour, damage, or other breaches
• Courts can strike out or refuse possession claims from unregistered landlords
• Tenants and their legal representatives can use non-registration as a defence in possession proceedings

Registration must be in place before serving any Section 8 notice. Retroactively registering after a dispute arises may not rescue a possession claim already in progress. This is not a minor administrative hurdle — it is the enforcement mechanism that makes registration unavoidable for any landlord who may ever need to recover their property.

2. Criminal offence

Failure to register is a criminal offence under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, not merely a civil regulatory breach. This carries the potential for prosecution and a criminal record, in addition to financial penalties. Providing false information to the database is a separate criminal offence.

3. Financial penalties

Local authorities can issue civil penalty notices to unregistered landlords. The specific penalty amounts will be set in secondary legislation closer to launch, but they are expected to be significant. The government has ring-fenced £18.2 million specifically to fund enforcement, signalling that penalties will be actively pursued rather than treated as a last resort.

4. Cross-referencing with other registers

Local authorities will cross-reference the PRS Database against:

• EPC register — to identify rental properties and verify energy ratings
• MEES exemptions register — to check landlords claiming sub-standard EPC exemptions
• Council tax records and Land Registry data to identify unregistered rentals

This means even landlords who do not register will be identified through data matching, making non-registration a high-risk strategy.

5. Private Landlord Ombudsman access

The Private Landlord Ombudsman (expected to launch around 2028) will require PRS Database registration as a prerequisite for membership. Ombudsman membership is itself mandatory under the Renters' Rights Act. Landlords who are not registered on the PRS Database will therefore also be non-compliant with the Ombudsman requirement — compounding the legal exposure.

How will it be enforced?

Local housing authorities will enforce PRS Database registration requirements. The government has committed £18.2 million in 2025/26 to strengthen council enforcement capacity, with further funding expected to follow. Enforcement uses a combination of proactive data matching and tenant-driven reporting.

The enforcement model combines several approaches:

• Proactive identification: Councils will use the database to cross-reference known rental properties against registered landlords, identifying unregistered properties via council tax records, Land Registry data, and EPC register matching
• EPC and MEES cross-referencing: The database will be linked to the EPC register and MEES exemptions register, making it straightforward for councils to identify rental properties and check registration status
• Tenant reporting: Tenants will be able to check whether their landlord is registered and report those who are not — giving every tenant a financial incentive to check their landlord's status
• Possession proceedings: Unregistered landlords will find their Section 8 notices challenged or struck out in court, creating a built-in enforcement mechanism in every possession case
• Criminal prosecution and civil penalties: Councils will be able to prosecute for the criminal offence of non-registration and issue civil penalty notices

The £18.2 million investment represents the largest single injection of enforcement funding for the private rented sector. It will fund additional enforcement officers, digital tools, and training for local authorities across England. This signals that the government is serious about ensuring registration is not optional in practice.

How LandlordOS helps you prepare

LandlordOS keeps your property data, safety certificates, and tenant records organised in one place, so when PRS Database registration opens you already have everything you need.

Smart landlords are getting their records in order now, months before registration opens. Here is what you can do today:

• Store all property details - address, type, bedrooms, tenancy status in a structured format ready to transfer
• Upload safety certificates - Gas Safety, EICR, EPC certificates with AI-powered date extraction so you never miss a renewal
• Track tenant information - contact details, tenancy dates, and Right to Rent records all in one place
• Get automatic compliance reminders - never let a certificate expire or miss a deadline

When the PRS Database goes live, landlords using LandlordOS will have all required information already collected, verified, and accessible. No last-minute scramble to find certificates or chase down property details.