Do Landlords In England Have To Register Their Rental Property? Everything You Need to Know

Yes. From 15 December 2026, private landlords in England have to register themselves and every home they let on a new government service called Register your rental property. You’ll also see it called the PRS Database or the landlord register. The rule comes from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and it applies whether you let one flat or fifty houses.

The date you need to act by depends on where your property is. We’ve set out who’s covered, when each region’s deadline falls and what you’ll be asked for, so you can plan ahead with plenty of time.

Who Has To Register?

You’ll need to register if you let a home in England under an assured or regulated tenancy. Since 1 May 2026, nearly every private tenancy in England has been an assured periodic tenancy, so this covers almost all private landlords.

A few situations are worth knowing about:

• Joint landlords. Each of you needs your own landlord entry, and those entries link to one shared entry for the property.
• Companies and trusts. These register too, and they give details of the organisation and the people acting for it.
• Licensed properties. A selective, additional or HMO licence from your council is a separate scheme, so you’ll still need to register.
• Property in other parts of the UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own landlord registers. Being on one of those doesn’t cover a property in England.

When Is Your Deadline?

The service opens one region at a time. Once your region opens, you’ve got three months to register each property you let there.

Your deadline is set by the property’s location. A landlord who lives in Leeds and lets a flat in Bristol works to the South West date. If you’d like to get it done early, you can register from 15 December 2026 wherever your property is.

What Will You Be Asked For?

You’ll sign in with a GOV.UK One Login, and there’s a paper route if you can’t register online. The service asks for four sets of information:

• About you. Your name, date of birth, home address, phone number and email.
• About the property. The address, the type of home, the number of bedrooms, how you own it and contact details for any freeholder or managing agent.
• About the tenancy. The rent, how often it’s paid, whether bills are included, how many people and households live there and whether it’s furnished.
• Safety and energy. Your latest gas safety record, your electrical safety report and your EPC.

You can create the property entry first and add the tenancy and safety details afterwards, as long as everything’s in within 28 days. After that, you’ll need to update your entry within 28 days whenever something changes, such as a rent increase or a renewed gas certificate.

How Much Does It Cost?

Your landlord entry is free. Each property costs £65 a year. During the rollout, the first payment is worked out pro rata, so registering early won’t cost you more than waiting.

What Happens If You Don’t Register?

Councils can start enforcing once the three month window in your region has closed. The consequences include:

• A civil penalty of up to £7,000 for letting or advertising a property without an active registration.
• A penalty of up to £40,000 for repeated or continuing breaches.
• A criminal offence if you knowingly give false or misleading information.
• Limits on getting your property back. Courts can’t grant a possession order to an unregistered landlord, with an exception for antisocial behaviour cases.

Do Empty Properties Need Registering?

For now, an empty property doesn’t need registering until someone’s living there under an assured tenancy. The government has said future rules will require registration before a property is marketed for let, and no date has been set for that yet.

If You’d Already Been Thinking About Selling

For many landlords, registering will be a short job once a year. For others, it arrives on top of a long list of recent changes, and it’s the point where selling starts to look sensible. If you’re in that second group, your regional deadline gives you a clear date to work back from.

A sale on the open market can easily run past a three month window. If you’re looking to sell your rental to a cash buyer before your date arrives, you’ll have far more control over the timing.

Sell To Us Before Your Region’s Deadline

At Sell House Fast, we buy rental properties directly with our own cash funds, and that includes homes with tenants living in them. You’ll have an initial offer from us within 24 hours, and we can complete in as little as 7 days. There are no fees to pay, and we cover the legal costs.

That speed is what makes us the strongest option for a landlord working to a registration deadline. Check your region’s date in the table above, then call us on 0800 368 4757 or request your free cash offer online. There’s no obligation, and you’ll know exactly where you stand well before your deadline.

FAQs

Can my letting agent register for me?

No. The registration has to come from you as the landlord. Your agent can supply some of the information, and the government has said it’ll publish more guidance on how that works.

I rent out a room in my own home. Do I need to register?

A lodger living in your own home isn’t an assured tenant, so that arrangement on its own doesn’t need a property entry.

Do I have to register again every year?

Yes. Each property entry lasts 12 months and you’ll pay the £65 fee again at renewal. If you’ve got several properties, they share one renewal date.

What if I own properties in two different regions?

Each property follows the deadline for its own region. Properties you add later are charged pro rata for their first year, which keeps your whole portfolio on the same renewal date.

Will tenants be able to look me up?

Councils will have access to the register for their housing work. Tenant access to some of the information is planned, and the government hasn’t given a date for it.

Does Sell House Fast buy properties outside England?

Yes, we buy across England and Wales. The registration rules in this article apply to rental properties in England only.