Register Your Rental Property: A Step by Step Guide to the PRS Database

Register your rental property: a step by step guide to the PRS Database

Landlords register through the GOV.UK "Register your rental property" service, opening 15 December 2026. Sign in with GOV.UK One Login, create a landlord entry, then a dwelling entry for each let property, paying £65 per property per year. Gas, electrical and EPC documents can follow within 28 days. Deadlines depend on the property's region.

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 is the Register your rental property service?

"Register your rental property" is the name the government has given to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database, the national register created by Chapter 3 of Part 2 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Section 82(3) of the Act places a duty on every residential landlord to hold an active landlord entry for themselves and an active dwelling entry for each property let on an assured or regulated tenancy.

The operational rules sit in the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, laid before Parliament on 9 September 2026 under the draft affirmative procedure. At the time of writing they are still a draft awaiting approval by both Houses, so the detail below may change before the service opens. The government's own summary is on its Get ready: Register your rental property page.

Do I need to register?

You need to register if you let a property in England on an assured or regulated tenancy. Landlords of supported exempt accommodation, as defined in section 12 of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, are excluded by regulation 3 of the draft regulations.

For now, the government's guidance says only properties that are currently let, or become let during the rollout, must be registered. Empty properties will need registering before they are marketed once future legislation brings that part of the scheme in. Our article on which properties must be registered works through holiday lets, lodgers, company lets and other edge cases.

When do I need to register by?

Registration opens to everyone on 15 December 2026, but the deadline depends on where the property is, not where the landlord lives. The legal requirement switches on region by region each month, and the government's guidance gives a three month window after each start date.

Source: GOV.UK guidance; start dates match regulation 1(3) of the draft regulations. After each deadline, the guidance says councils in that region can begin enforcement. A landlord with properties in several regions may register them all from 15 December 2026.

Step 1: Check what you will be asked for

Before logging in, gather the information for every property. The draft regulations split it in two:

• Part 1 (needed to create the dwelling entry): address, landlord name and correspondence address, ownership type, dwelling type, number of bedrooms, whether it is currently let, and the name and email of any freeholder, superior landlord or property manager.
• Part 2 (can follow within 28 days): number of occupants and households, any HMO, additional or selective licence numbers, the gas safety record and its issue date, the EICR and its next inspection date (or an appropriate EIC), the EPC and any registered MEES exemption, the rent and payment frequency, utilities included, and whether the property is furnished.

Our PRS Database information checklist lists every field with its source document.

Step 2: Set up GOV.UK One Login

You will need a GOV.UK One Login to use the online service. Setting one up, including any identity check it asks for, before 15 December avoids a delay on the day. Section 85(1)(a) of the Act, once in force, requires the database operator to offer a route for people who cannot or do not wish to use a computer, and the government has confirmed offline registration routes and a contact centre will be available.

Step 3: Create your landlord entry

The landlord entry records who you are. Individuals give their name, date of birth, residential address, telephone number and email address. Companies, charities and trusts give the organisation's details, its Companies House or charity number, the person making the entry and a nominated contact. Our article on registration for company and joint landlords covers the extra detail.

Do not create a landlord entry and stop there. Under regulation 11(1)(a), a landlord entry becomes inactive if no dwelling entry is linked to it within three months.

Step 4: Create a dwelling entry and pay £65 for each property

Each let property needs its own dwelling entry, and regulation 6(5) means the entry cannot be made until the fee is paid. The draft regulations leave the amount to the database operator under regulation 14; the government has announced it as £65 per property per year. When you add a second or later property, regulation 10(4) aligns its renewal date with your existing entries, and the government says fees will be pro-rated during the rollout so early registrants do not pay more.

Section 84 of the Act, once in force, requires the database operator to allocate a unique identifier to you and to each property. Keep these: they will eventually be required on written property adverts under section 82(2).

Step 5: Add the Part 2 documents within 28 days

A dwelling entry for a let property can be created without the tenancy and safety information, but that information must be added within 28 days. If it is not, regulation 11(2)(a) makes the dwelling entry inactive, and an inactive entry does not meet the section 82(3) duty.

This is the step most likely to catch landlords out. A missing EICR, a gas safety record that cannot be found, or an EPC that expired years ago has to be dealt with inside that window. Where a certificate is overdue, the database is likely to show it.

Step 6: Let your agent help, but stay in charge

You must start the registration yourself, unless someone with legal authority acts for you, such as an attorney, a court appointed deputy or a receiver. Regulation 4(5) allows a letting agent or property manager you appoint to provide the Part 2 information and documents on your behalf, and regulation 7(2) allows them to keep that information up to date. The government says it will publish guidance for agents before launch. Whatever the agent does, the guidance is clear that the landlord remains responsible for providing all the required information.

Step 7: Keep entries up to date and renew every year

Registration is not a one-off task. The draft regulations set three continuing duties:

An entry that is not renewed becomes inactive the day after its renewal date.

Which registration mistakes are most likely?

Most of the ways to lose an active entry come from the timing rules rather than the form itself. These are the points where the draft regulations leave least room.

Reactivating an inactive dwelling entry after its renewal date requires the fee again under regulation 12(5). Section 81(5) of the Act also allows the fee for reactivation after a lapse to be set higher than the normal fee, so an avoidable lapse may cost more than the renewal would have.

What does registration not replace?

Registering on the database does not satisfy any other obligation. A property that needs an HMO, additional or selective licence still needs that licence from the council; the database only asks for the licence number. The certificates themselves must still be renewed on their own cycles, and copies must still be given to tenants within the existing deadlines. The Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman, also created by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, is a separate scheme with its own membership requirement, expected to follow the database.

What happens if you do not register?

The enforcement provisions below (sections 82, 90, 91 and 92 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025) are not yet fully in force. The draft regulations' explanatory memorandum says a separate Commencement No. 4 Regulations will bring them in; that instrument had not been made at the time of writing.

Once commenced, a local housing authority can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a breach of the registration duty, under section 91 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Providing information that is false or misleading in a material respect, knowingly or recklessly, is an offence under section 92, as is continuing a breach more than 28 days after a penalty. A council can impose a penalty of up to £40,000 for those offences instead of prosecuting.

Possession is also affected. Section 90 will insert section 7(5ZC) into the Housing Act 1988, which will stop a court making a possession order while the landlord is in breach of the duty to hold active entries, unless the ground is 7A or 14. The full picture is in our article on what unregistered landlords lose.

The registration itself takes minutes; finding a current gas safety record, EICR and EPC for every property is what takes the time. LLCR keeps each certificate against its property with its expiry date, so the documents the 28 day window asks for are already in one place. Run the free compliance checker to see what is missing before your region's deadline.