PRS Database Registration for Company and Joint Landlords

PRS Database Registration for Company and Joint Landlords

A limited company registers as the landlord in its own name, supplying its Companies House number, entity type, a non PO Box address, and details of the individual making the entry and a nominated contact. For joint landlords, section 90 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 means one unregistered joint landlord blocks possession for all of them.

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.

Who is the registering landlord

The duty falls on the residential landlord, meaning the landlord under the relevant tenancy, under section 63(1) of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Section 82(3) then places that person under a duty to ensure there is an active landlord entry in respect of them and an active dwelling entry in respect of the dwelling.

The consequence is simple but frequently got wrong. If the tenancy names a limited company as landlord, the company registers, not the director personally. If the tenancy names two individuals, both are landlords. Registration follows the tenancy, not the mortgage, not the title deeds in every case, and not whoever happens to handle the admin.

Landlords who have moved properties into a company, or who hold some personally and some corporately, are advised to check what each tenancy agreement actually says before their regional date. A mismatch between the registered entity and the landlord named on the tenancy is the kind of error that surfaces at the worst moment, which is when possession is needed.

What a company must provide

Government has published the additional information required from organisational landlords. It goes well beyond what an individual supplies.

(Source: Get ready: "Register your rental property" service, GOV.UK Housing Hub, updated 9 September 2026.)

Two points deserve attention. The nominated contact is a named individual inside the organisation, so a generic info address will not discharge it. And where there is no Companies House number, the personal details of every director, trustee, partner or governing body member are required, which is a materially greater disclosure than most partnership and unincorporated landlords will expect.

The joint landlord possession trap

This is the provision joint owners most need to understand. Section 90 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 inserts a new subsection (5ZC) into section 7 of the Housing Act 1988, providing that the court may not make an order for possession while the landlord, or in the case of joint landlords any of the joint landlords, is in breach of section 82(3)(a) in relation to the dwelling, unless the ground is Ground 7A or Ground 14.

Read that carefully. One joint landlord failing to maintain an active entry is enough to block possession for every joint landlord on that tenancy, on every ground except the two anti social behaviour grounds. A diligent co owner does not get the benefit of their own compliance.

Section 95 provides that regulations under the chapter may make different provision for joint landlords, and gives the example of a single landlord entry in respect of joint landlords. Whether joint landlords will register once or separately therefore depends on regulations that have not yet been made. Until they are, joint owners are advised to treat registration as a shared responsibility with one named person accountable for it, and to check the entry rather than assume a co owner has dealt with it.

Couples who separate, siblings who inherit jointly, and informal partnerships are the situations where this bites hardest, because the co owner whose cooperation is needed is often the one who has become hard to reach.

Where directors are personally exposed

Registering through a company does not put the individuals behind it entirely out of reach. Section 92(8) provides that where an offence under section 92 committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, an officer of the body corporate, that officer as well as the company commits the offence and can be proceeded against and punished. Section 92(9) extends the same principle to members where the company's affairs are managed by its members.

The offences in section 92 include knowingly or recklessly providing information to the database operator that is false or misleading in a material respect. That is the provision to keep in mind when a director signs off a registration containing certificate details someone else assembled without checking them.

On penalties, the Act draws a sharper line than most summaries suggest. Under section 91(2), a financial penalty for breach of the marketing, advertising or registration duties in section 82 is capped at £7,000, while a penalty imposed in respect of an offence under section 92 is capped at £40,000. Section 91(3) also allows more than one penalty for the same conduct where the conduct continues beyond 28 days after the previous penalty, subject to any appeal.

Attorneys, executors, deputies and mortgagees

The published requirement contemplates registration by someone acting for the landlord in a legal capacity. Where the person making the entry does so as a donee of a power of attorney, a personal representative of a deceased person's estate, a court appointed deputy, a guardian, a receiver, a trustee in bankruptcy, a liquidator, an administrator, an administrative receiver, a mortgagee or a person appointed by a mortgagee, that capacity must be declared, along with their name, address, telephone number and email.

Evidence of authority is also required, in the form of a certified or sealed copy as appropriate. The published list includes the document granting the power of attorney, the grant of probate or letters of administration, the deed, certificate, notice or instrument of appointment, the mortgage deed, a court order, or a bankruptcy order. (Source: GOV.UK Housing Hub.)

Obtaining a certified copy takes time. Landlords managing a property under a power of attorney for an elderly relative, or executors letting an estate property, are advised to identify the document now rather than in the final weeks of their regional window.

What it costs, whatever the structure

The fee is £65 per property per year and does not vary by ownership structure. A company holding twelve properties pays twelve fees, annually, exactly as an individual holding twelve would.

One detail in the Act is worth budgeting for. Under section 81(5), where an entry has become inactive because requirements were not met and a fee is charged to make it active again, that reactivation fee may be set higher than the fee that would have been charged had the entry remained active. Letting an entry lapse may therefore cost more than keeping it current, on top of the possession consequence in section 90.

Note also that section 78(3) prevents fees being charged for the separate duty to keep an active entry up to date. Updating the entry when circumstances change is free; letting it lapse is not.

What to do before your regional date

Confirm, for each property, which legal person is the landlord on the tenancy agreement, and make sure that is the entity you register. Identify the nominated contact for each organisational landlord and the individual who will make the entry. If there is no Companies House number, collect the personal details the service requires for every director, trustee, partner or governing body member.

For jointly held properties, agree in writing who is responsible for registering and renewing, and make sure every joint landlord can verify the entry is active, given the effect of section 90. Where anyone will register in a legal capacity, locate the certified evidence of authority now.

The underlying certificates and property data are the same whatever the structure, and are covered in our guides to preparing for PRS Database registration and what must be registered and when. If you are unsure whether a particular letting is caught at all, see which properties fall within the scheme.

LLCR supports portfolios held across multiple entities, with a separate compliance record per property and role based permissions so a nominated contact or co owner can see the current position without holding the paperwork themselves. You can check where your properties stand with the free compliance checker.

Last reviewed: 9 September 2026.