How to Prepare for the Private Rented Sector Database (2026)

How to Prepare for PRS Database Registration

Preparing for PRS Database registration means having, for each let property, a current gas safety record, an EICR or Electrical Installation Certificate, an EPC, licence numbers, occupant and rent details, and freeholder and property manager contacts. Registration opens on 15 December 2026 and costs £65 per property per year.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Landlords should seek independent legal advice for their specific circumstances. It describes the position in England.

What preparation involves now that the requirements are published

Preparation is now a documented exercise rather than an educated guess. Government has published the full list of information the "Register your rental property" service will ask for, along with the fee and the regional timetable, which means landlords can work from an actual specification. (Source: Get ready: "Register your rental property" service, GOV.UK Housing Hub, updated 9 September 2026.)

That changes the nature of the task. The form itself is unlikely to be difficult. The friction will come from hunting for a certificate issue date, working out who the freeholder is, or discovering that an EPC lapsed two tenancies ago. Everything below is aimed at removing that friction before your regional date rather than during it.

The fee is £65 per property per year, charged per property rather than per landlord and payable again on each annual renewal. Our companion article sets out the confirmed fee and the full regional deadline table.

When your deadline falls

Your deadline is set by where the property is, not where you live. The service opens on 15 December 2026 beginning with the West Midlands, then commences monthly by region through to the South West on 15 August 2027. Each region gets a three month window from its commencement date, after which councils in that region can begin enforcement. (Source: GOV.UK Housing Hub.)

Two practical consequences. First, a landlord with properties in more than one region can register the whole portfolio from 15 December 2026 rather than tracking several dates, provided each property is registered before its own deadline. Second, if you live in one region and let in another, diarise the property's region, not yours. This is the most likely source of a missed deadline for landlords who own at a distance.

At launch the requirement covers properties that are currently let, or that become let during the rollout period. Unoccupied properties are not caught yet. Government has said that under future legislation landlords will also need to register a property before marketing it, and to show landlord and property identifiers on adverts, with further guidance to follow. That requirement is not in force.

The document audit

Work through each let property against the health and safety evidence the service requires. What it asks for is narrower than many landlords assume, but it asks for dates as well as documents.

(Source: GOV.UK Housing Hub.)

Two corrections are worth noting against earlier expectations. Deposit protection details do not appear in the published information requirement, although deposit protection and service of prescribed information remain separate legal obligations in their own right and are unaffected. And the electrical requirement is explicitly satisfied by an Electrical Installation Certificate in the right circumstances, which matches the position set out in our guide to EICR requirements for rented property.

The details most landlords do not have to hand

The certificates are the part landlords expect. These are the fields that tend to cause the delay.

Freeholder, superior landlord and property manager. For each dwelling the service asks for the name and email address of the owner of the freehold, any other superior landlord, and the property manager. Leasehold landlords often have a managing agent's postal address and no named contact or email. This is worth chasing now.

Households as well as occupants. The service asks for the number of occupants and, separately, the number of households occupying the dwelling. The distinction matters because it feeds into whether a property requires an HMO licence.

Licence numbers. You will be asked whether the dwelling requires an HMO licence, an additional licence or a selective licence, and for the numbers where available. Selective licensing designations change, so confirm the current position with the local authority rather than relying on what applied when you last let the property.

Rent and utilities. The rent charged, the payment frequency, and whether the rent is inclusive of utilities and which ones. Straightforward, but it needs to match what you would say elsewhere.

Furnishing status and bedrooms. Ownership type, dwelling type, number of bedrooms, whether the dwelling is currently under let, and the furnishing status.

A correspondence address that is not a PO Box. Both the landlord's address and the correspondence address for the dwelling must be a real address in England or Wales. Landlords using a PO Box for service will need an alternative.

Getting the legal entity right

Register as the entity that is actually the landlord. If a property is held by a limited company, the company registers, not you personally, and the service asks for the Companies House registration number, the type of legal entity, an address that is not a PO Box, and the details of the individual making the entry plus a nominated contact within the organisation.

Where no Companies House number applies, the names, dates of birth and addresses of all directors, trustees, partners or governing body members are required. Where the landlord is a trust, the lead trustee's full details are required. (Source: GOV.UK Housing Hub.)

If someone will register on a landlord's behalf in a legal capacity, such as an attorney under a power of attorney, a personal representative, a court appointed deputy or a mortgagee, that capacity has to be declared and evidence of authority supplied, for example the power of attorney document, the grant of probate, the deed of appointment or a court order. Locating a certified copy takes time, so identify now whether this applies to any of your properties.

The published requirement does not fully resolve how joint individual owners register between themselves. Landlords in that position, or holding through more complex structures, are advised to take specific advice once the further service guidance is published.

If you use a letting agent

Agree the division of labour in writing before your regional date. Government guidance is explicit that the landlord starts and ends the registration process and remains responsible for providing all required information, even where an agent uploads some of it on the landlord's behalf. (Source: GOV.UK Housing Hub.)

Guidance for letting agents and property managers setting out exactly which information they will be able to submit is expected before launch. In the meantime, an agency agreement that says nothing about database registration is a gap worth closing. Ask your agent in writing which fields they intend to handle, and keep your own copy of whatever is submitted. Responsibility that cannot be delegated is responsibility you need evidence of having discharged, which is the same principle behind keeping a compliance audit trail.

Budgeting and record keeping

Treat £65 per property as a recurring annual cost from 2027 and add the renewal to the same place you track certificate expiries. A missed renewal has the same effect as never registering.

Keep the underlying records structured rather than scattered. For every certificate, record the issue date, the expiry date, the property it relates to, and the issuing professional and their registration number. That is the shape of data the service expects, and it is the same structure described in our explanation of what a landlord compliance register should contain.

Readiness checklist

Before your region commences, confirm for each let property that you hold:

• the gas safety record and its issue date, where there is a gas supply
• the EICR or Electrical Installation Certificate and its expiry date
• the most recent EPC, and the current tenancy start date if the EPC has lapsed
• any registered MEES exemption and its type
• HMO, additional or selective licence numbers where applicable
• the number of occupants and the number of households
• rent, payment frequency, and which utilities are included
• ownership type, dwelling type, bedroom count and furnishing status
• names and email addresses for the freeholder, any superior landlord, and the property manager
• a correspondence address that is not a PO Box

Then diarise the regional deadline, settle the agent question in writing, and confirm the registering entity is correct.

LLCR holds each of these fields against the property they belong to, with expiry dates tracked and documents stored, so registration becomes data entry rather than a document hunt. You can see where your properties currently stand using the free compliance checker.

Last reviewed: 9 September 2026.