Updated: June 2026 • Based on UK Law
What Is the PRS Database?
The PRS Database is a new national register of private landlords and rental properties in England, created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Every private landlord must register themselves and each property they let, keep the details current, and pay an annual fee per property.
This guide covers what the PRS Database is, who must register, the late-2026 rollout, the penalties, and how landlords can get registration-ready now.
The PRS Database is one of the biggest changes coming out of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
It’s a national register every private landlord in England will have to be on.
It isn’t live yet, and some detail is still being finalised through secondary legislation.
Rather than guess at unconfirmed figures and dates, this guide sets out what’s confirmed.
It also covers what’s still to come, and why the database matters now that Section 21 has gone.
The short version: with the old no-fault route closed, your ability to register, keep letting and recover your property all come down to one thing.
Paperwork.
✓ Get registration-ready with our landlord record-keeping templates.
The database is built around the compliance records you should already hold — gas safety, EPC, EICR, deposit protection, inventories and more.
Each is available on its own in a guided interview or a classic editor, with identical output, and you can preview every section before you buy. → Browse landlord record-keeping templates
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What the PRS Database Is For
The database is a new national register of private landlords and rental properties in England, created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
Registration happens through a government-run portal.
It sits alongside — not instead of — the selective and HMO licensing schemes councils already run.
The government describes it as a single point of reference serving three groups:
- Tenants — to check a landlord and property before they commit.
- Landlords — one place to understand their obligations and show they’re meeting them.
- Councils — visibility to target enforcement at operators who cut corners.
It’s also expected to absorb the existing Database of Rogue Landlords for the private sector.
That would pull banning-order and offence records into one system.
If you’ve searched for “PRS registration” or a “PRS check,” that’s what sits behind those terms.
For landlords, the practical point is simple — being on it is mandatory, and there are real consequences for not being on it.
Who Runs the Database?
The register will be maintained by a designated Database Operator.
This is an independent body appointed by the Secretary of State, rather than a department running it directly.
The operator is expected to receive registrations, verify the information, issue registration numbers, and set and collect the fees.
Importantly, it can also suspend or revoke a registration where a landlord persistently fails to comply.
That power to revoke matters, because so much of what a landlord is allowed to do is tied to holding a valid registration.
Who Has to Register?
Registration is expected to apply to every private landlord letting residential property in England, with no exemption based on portfolio size:
- Individual landlords — whether you let one property or fifty.
- Company landlords — limited companies and other corporate structures that own and let residential property.
- New landlords — expected to register before advertising or letting once the database is live in their area.
- Existing landlords — expected to register within a transition window after the database becomes operational; the exact window is to be confirmed.
Letting agents don’t register as landlords themselves.
But the Act requires them to check that the landlords they act for are registered before marketing or managing a property.
An agent who acts for an unregistered landlord can face a penalty in their own right.
Social landlords such as housing associations and councils generally sit outside mandatory PRS registration.
Certain licence-based arrangements are also outside it, as they operate under separate frameworks.
When Is It Happening?
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent in October 2025, and the main tenancy reforms came into force on 1 May 2026.
The PRS Database runs on its own, later timetable.
As set out in the government’s implementation roadmap, the database is due to roll out regionally from late 2026.
It then builds towards full registration through 2027 and into 2028.
The exact dates for each region are still to be confirmed, and the government has said it will give landlords notice before their area goes live.
Key dates at a glance
- 1 May 2026 — Main Renters’ Rights Act reforms in force. Section 21 abolished; all tenancies become periodic.
- Late 2026 — Database expected to go live; Database Operator designated; first regional registration opens.
- 2027 — Registration extends towards full national coverage; agents checking registration before acting.
- 2028 onwards — Enforcement expected to be in full operation; PRS Landlord Ombudsman expected.
The precise sequencing will be confirmed in secondary legislation and government guidance.
What Information Will You Need to Register?
This is where it pays to be precise, because there’s a lot of vague writing about it online.
The full, final list of fields will be confirmed in secondary legislation.
But the roadmap already sets out a minimum dataset, so we know the core of what you’ll be asked for.
About you as landlord:
- Full legal name (or company name and registered number for corporate landlords).
- A correspondence address, including a UK address for the service of notices.
- Contact details, and identity-verification information.
- Details of any letting agent acting for you, and information for any joint landlords.
About each property:
- Full address, property type, and the number of rooms, households and residents.
- Whether the property is currently occupied and whether it is furnished.
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) details.
- Gas Safety Certificate details, where the property has gas.
- Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) details.
- HMO licence details, where the property requires a licence.
The pattern is clear: the database is built around the compliance records you should already be keeping.
Right to Rent checks remain a separate legal duty that sits alongside registration rather than being part of it.
Keeping Your Registration Up to Date
Registration won’t be a one-and-done task. You’ll be expected to keep the information current and update the register when things change.
That includes a new tenancy, a change of correspondence address, or a renewed safety certificate.
Current guidance points to a short update window, expected to be in the region of 14 to 28 days from the change.
The takeaway: the database rewards organised, ongoing record-keeping rather than a once-a-year scramble.
What’s Been Confirmed
- Registration will be mandatory for private landlords in England, whatever the portfolio size.
- You’ll register yourself and each property, and keep the details up to date.
- Rollout is regional from late 2026, building to full registration through 2027–2028.
- An annual fee per property will apply, set on a cost-recovery basis.
- A minimum dataset is already known (your details, property details, and Gas Safety, EICR, EPC and HMO licence references).
- Penalties are tiered: up to £7,000 for a first or minor breach, rising to up to £40,000 for repeated or serious breaches or false information.
- An unregistered landlord cannot obtain a possession order, other than on the narrow grounds for serious criminal or anti-social behaviour by the tenant.
What We’re Still Waiting On
Some headline questions don’t yet have firm answers, and any guide that states them with certainty is guessing.
Still to be confirmed through secondary legislation:
- The exact annual fee per property.
- The final, full list of data fields beyond the confirmed minimum.
- The precise dates and order of the regional rollout.
- The detailed mechanics for companies and joint landlords.
We’re tracking these closely and will update this guide as each piece is confirmed.
What You Can’t Do Without Being Registered
The database is designed with teeth, and the consequences of not registering go well beyond a fine.
Three everyday landlord actions are tied to holding a valid registration:
- Recovering your property. An unregistered landlord cannot obtain a possession order, other than on the narrow grounds for serious criminal or anti-social behaviour. With Section 21 gone, that leaves no practical route to get your property back.
- Using a letting agent. Agents are expected to be prohibited from marketing or managing a property for an unregistered landlord, and must stop acting if a registration lapses.
- Holding an HMO licence. Councils are expected to check registration when processing HMO licence applications, so an unregistered landlord may be unable to obtain or renew one.
As operating a licensable HMO without a licence is already an offence, that last point stacks the risk for HMO landlords.
Section 21 Has Gone — Section 8 Is Now the Only Route, and Paperwork Is Everything
This is where the database connects to the rest of the Renters’ Rights Act, and why it matters more than the fine suggests.
Section 21 — the old “no-fault” notice — was abolished on 1 May 2026. That leaves Section 8 as the only route to possession.
A Section 8 claim works completely differently from the notice it replaced. You can no longer simply give notice and expect to recover the property.
You have to establish a recognised ground — rent arrears, breach of tenancy, anti-social behaviour, property damage — and prove it with evidence.
Put the two changes together and the picture is stark.
To recover your property you now need to be registered on the PRS Database and hold a clear, dated paper trail behind your chosen Section 8 ground.
A claim is only ever as strong as the records behind it.
Reminders that were sent and dated, breaches notified in writing, warnings issued and logged, certificates kept current.
These are no longer just good housekeeping.
They’re the difference between a possession claim that stands up and one that doesn’t.
That’s the real message of this reform for landlords: paperwork is key. The database puts your records on the record.
The landlords who come through this well will be the ones whose documentation is already in order before they need it.
Penalties for Not Registering
It’s worth being accurate here, because published figures vary and some are out of date.
Under the Act’s penalty framework, the position is a tiered civil penalty regime, enforced by local councils:
- Up to £7,000 — for a first or minor breach, such as failing to register, or letting or advertising a property that isn’t registered.
- Up to £40,000 — for repeated or serious breaches, or for knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information.
- Criminal prosecution — possible as an alternative for the most serious, ongoing breaches.
On top of civil penalties, tenants and councils can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order.
The Renters’ Rights Act increased this to a maximum of 24 months’ rent — double the previous limit.
And, as above, an unregistered landlord effectively loses the ability to recover their property.
The precise way penalties apply will be confirmed in secondary legislation.
What Will It Cost?
There will be an annual fee for each property you register, set to cover the cost of running the database rather than to raise revenue.
The exact figure hasn’t been confirmed and is expected in secondary legislation closer to launch.
For a sense of scale, the long-running schemes in the other UK nations give a rough benchmark.
Scotland’s landlord registration runs at an £85 principal fee plus £20 per property.
Wales’s Rent Smart scheme is around £33.50 for online self-registration.
England’s figure isn’t yet set, but is expected to be broadly in that territory.
Registration fees are generally an allowable expense against rental income. We’ll update the figure here as soon as it’s published.
Who Will Be Able to See Your Information?
The database will have a public-facing element, so people will be able to check whether a given landlord and property are registered.
But it won’t be a fully open register.
The government has said sensitive personal details, such as a landlord’s home address or identity-verification information, won’t be publicly visible.
It’s still working through exactly which fields will be shown.
Councils will have a fuller view, including the ability to cross-reference against their licensing records.
The sensible reading: treat your registration status and headline compliance position as information that can be checked, and keep it accurate.
How England Compares to Scotland and Wales
England is following a path the other UK nations took years ago.
Scotland has run landlord registration since 2006, and Wales introduced Rent Smart Wales in 2015.
Both require landlords to register and renew periodically, and Wales adds a training and licensing element for landlords who self-manage.
England’s database doesn’t currently include a training requirement, though regulations could introduce one in future.
If you let in more than one nation, the schemes are separate and not transferable.
An English property goes on the English database, and a Scottish property on the Scottish scheme.
How to Get Registration-Ready Now
Even though the portal isn’t open yet, the smartest preparation is already clear, because the database is heavily record-keeping based.
Getting organised now means you’re ready to register the moment your region opens — and ready to evidence your position if you’re ever checked.
Our free Renters’ Rights Act landlord checklist walks through every obligation in order, so nothing slips before your region goes live.
- Pull your compliance certificates together. Registration will require current EPC, EICR and Gas Safety details for every property. Renew anything close to expiry now.
- Tidy your property records. Accurate addresses, property types, room and household counts, and tenancy status across the portfolio.
- Confirm your company details if you let through a limited company — they’ll need to match Companies House.
- Check your EPC ratings against current and signalled future minimum standards.
- Talk to your letting agent about who will handle registration and keep the data current.
- Budget for the annual per-property fee as a new recurring cost.
- Keep your evidence trail in order — the dated records behind any future Section 8 claim.
Templates that cover the groundwork
Our existing landlord templates already cover much of this preparation:
- Gas Safety Certificate Log — annual CP12 record tracking and tenant notification log, structured following the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
- EPC Register Template — Energy Performance Certificate records and expiry tracking.
- Maintenance Log — repair request tracking, contractor records and maintenance history.
- Right to Rent Check Record — immigration verification audit trail with follow-up check dates.
- Deposit Protection Notice — prescribed information handover and deposit scheme record.
- Inventory / Schedule of Condition — property condition and contents recording.
- Property Inspection Report — room-by-room condition recording with follow-up actions.
Building the paper trail behind a Section 8 claim
Because Section 8 is now the only possession route, the documents that create a dated record of what happened matter enormously.
They are just as important as the safety certificates.
Each of these is designed to build evidence, ground by ground, for a possession claim later:
- Late Rent Letter Pack — escalating, dated reminders that build the arrears paper trail behind the rent arrears grounds.
- Breach of Tenancy Letter — dated evidence the tenant was notified and given a chance to remedy, supporting the breach-of-tenancy ground.
- Nuisance / ASB Warning Notice — a dated record of warnings issued, supporting the anti-social behaviour ground.
- Section 8 — Evidence & Particulars Builder — pulls your records and timeline together into the supporting evidence behind a Section 8 claim, in court format.
How the PRS Database Fits the Wider Renters’ Rights Act
The database is one part of a larger package.
Since 1 May 2026, all tenancies are periodic assured tenancies with a mandatory Written Statement of Terms,
Section 21 has been abolished, and the new possession grounds apply.
A PRS Landlord Ombudsman is expected to follow, likely from 2028, and landlords will need to join it.
The database is the thread that ties this together.
It’s a single national record of who is letting, what they’re letting, and whether they’re meeting their obligations.
For the full picture, see our Renters’ Rights Act 2025 guide and our Residential Landlord Documents Guide.
To cover the paperwork in one place, the Renters’ Rights Essential Pack brings the core landlord templates together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PRS registration?
It’s the process of recording yourself as a landlord and each of your rental properties on the national PRS Database in England.
It’s done through the government portal, once it opens in your region.
Is the PRS Database a tenant database?
No. It is a register of landlords and rental properties, not of tenants.
It’s also separate from the Land Registry, which records who owns a property.
The PRS Database is specifically about who is letting, and whether the property and landlord meet the required standards.
Is the PRS Database the same as an HMO licence?
No. The database is a register of all private landlords and properties, whatever the property type.
An HMO licence is a property-specific licence from the council for houses in multiple occupation above the licensing threshold.
A landlord with a licensable HMO will need both — to be on the database and to hold a valid HMO licence.
When do I have to register?
Registration is being rolled out regionally from late 2026 and through 2027–2028.
Exact dates for each region are still to be confirmed, so the timing depends on where your properties are.
What happens if I don’t register?
You could face a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a first breach, rising to up to £40,000 for repeated or serious breaches or false information.
Criminal prosecution is possible in the most serious cases.
Just as importantly, an unregistered landlord cannot obtain a possession order.
The only exceptions are the narrow grounds for serious criminal or anti-social behaviour by the tenant.
They also cannot keep a letting agent acting for them, and may be unable to obtain or renew an HMO licence.
What happens if my registration is revoked?
If the Database Operator revokes a registration — for example after persistent non-compliance — the landlord cannot legally continue letting.
The same restrictions as for non-registration apply, and continued letting after revocation can carry a further penalty.
Do I still need my own records if it’s a government database?
Yes — more than ever. The database records that you are registered; it does not keep your evidence for you.
With Section 21 gone and Section 8 the only possession route, your own dated records are what a possession claim stands or falls on.
Good record-keeping is now central, not optional.
Key Takeaways
- The PRS Database is a new, mandatory national register of private landlords and properties in England, created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
- It rolls out regionally from late 2026, building to full registration through 2027–2028, on its own timetable.
- Without a valid registration you can’t recover your property via Section 8, keep a letting agent, or hold an HMO licence.
- Penalties are tiered — up to £7,000 for a first breach, up to £40,000 for serious or repeated breaches — plus rent repayment orders of up to 24 months.
- The fee, the final data fields and the regional dates are still to be confirmed; the core minimum dataset is already known.
- The smartest preparation is record-keeping: get your safety certificates, property records and evidence trail in order now.
The headline is settled: the PRS Database is coming, and it’s mandatory.
Being unregistered will cost you in penalties and in your ability to recover your property.
As the requirements firm up, we’re preparing record-keeping templates to help landlords get registration-ready.
We’ll keep this guide updated as each piece is confirmed.
The Truth About “Free” Legal Template Sites (What You’re Really Signing Up For)
Most websites offering a “free legal template” follow the same pattern:
- You click because it’s advertised as free
- You spend 10–15 minutes answering questions
- At the very end, you must create an account or start a “free trial”
- Your card is required upfront
- The subscription auto-renews at £29–£39 per month
This isn’t a free template – it’s a subscription service. Many people only realise after being charged £300–£400 over the year.
Why These “Free” Templates Are a Legal Risk
- Outdated wording: not aligned with current UK law
- Missing mandatory clauses: required for legal validity
- No compliance guidance: leaving users without legal context
- No structured checklist: no way to verify the document works
- Not kept updated: often unchanged when legislation changes
One incorrect clause can weaken or invalidate the entire document.
Hidden Problem: Many “Free Template” Sites Aren’t Even UK-Based
Another major issue: many free or auto-subscription template sites operate outside the UK, using documents drafted for the US legal system.
These are then loosely adapted for “international use,” which creates serious problems:
- Incorrect terminology: taken from US contract law
- Missing UK statutory references: essential legal requirements omitted
- Non-applicable clauses: terms that don’t apply under UK legislation
- Legal conflicts: risks breaching UK consumer, employment, or GDPR rules
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Last updated: June 2026
Disclaimer: This guide provides general UK legal information, not legal advice.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is still being implemented, and parts of the PRS Database regime may change as secondary legislation is published.
Laws are current as of June 2026.
