PRS Database Registration: What Every Private Landlord Must Do Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025

Quick summary

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database — sometimes called the Rented Property Portal — is a new national register of private landlords and their properties, created by Part 2, Chapter 3 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Registration will be mandatory for every private landlord letting on an assured tenancy in England. It has not gone live yet: the government's roadmap places it in "Phase 2," rolling out region by region from late 2026, with an exact date still to be confirmed. Read the full Renters' Rights Act 2025 hub for how the Database sits alongside the abolition of Section 21 and the move to periodic tenancies.

Since 1 May 2026, Section 21 "no-fault" evictions have been abolished and most tenancies in the private rented sector are now assured periodic tenancies rather than fixed-term ASTs — see our guide to the end of fixed-term tenancies. The PRS Database is the next major piece of the Act to switch on, and it changes what a landlord has to do before they can even market a property, not just how they end a tenancy.

What the PRS Database is

The Database is established by section 75 of the Act, which requires the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a database of residential landlords and dwellings in the private rented sector, and section 76, which provides for a database operator to run it day to day.

According to the government's implementation roadmap, the Database is designed to do three things at once: help tenants check who they're renting from and what a landlord's compliance record looks like; help landlords understand and demonstrate their own obligations; and help local councils target enforcement at the small minority of non-compliant landlords rather than spreading resources thinly across the whole sector.

Who must register

The duty is broad. Under section 82(3) of the Act, a person who is a "residential landlord" in relation to a dwelling is under an ongoing duty to ensure there is an active landlord entry and an active dwelling entry in the Database, and that any related requirements are kept up to date. That covers individual landlords with one let property, portfolio landlords, and landlord companies alike. Landlords who use letting agents can have the agent handle the administration, but the legal responsibility for compliance sits with the landlord.

Houses in multiple occupation fall within scope too — if you let an HMO, PRS Database registration sits alongside, not instead of, your existing HMO licensing obligations. See our HMO guide for how the two regimes interact.

When registration starts — and why the date isn't fixed yet

This is the point landlords most often get wrong, so it's worth being precise. The government's implementation roadmap, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, sets out three phases for the Act:

• Phase 1, from 1 May 2026 — Section 21 abolished, periodic tenancies introduced, new possession grounds in force.
• Phase 2, from late 2026 — the PRS Database and the PRS Landlord Ombudsman. The Database rolls out first, in two stages: landlord and property registration on a regional basis, followed by public access and data-sharing once registration is established.
• Phase 3 — a new Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector, with timing still subject to consultation.

Crucially, the roadmap and the Act's own commencement notes confirm that the substantive Database duties — registration itself, the marketing restrictions, the financial penalties and offences — are not yet in force. They were given limited effect at Royal Assent only for specified preparatory purposes (such as making regulations), and the operative rollout depends on further commencement regulations that the roadmap says will begin "from late 2026," region by region, with no fixed date yet published. If you're reading this before that regional rollout reaches your area, registration is not yet open to you — check GOV.UK for the current position before acting.

What information you'll need to provide

The exact data fields will be set by regulations under section 78 of the Act (which governs keeping database entries up to date), subject to parliamentary approval. The roadmap sets out the government's current intention, at minimum, for each property entry:

• Landlord contact details — including details for all joint landlords where a property has more than one.
• Property details — the full address, property type, number of bedrooms, number of households or residents, and whether the property is occupied and furnished.
• Safety information — gas safety, electrical safety, and Energy Performance Certificate status, so tenants can check the basics before renting.

That last category overlaps directly with obligations you should already be meeting. Our guides to EPC and MEES regulations and gas safety certificates cover what's required now, independently of the Database — get those right first, since you'll need to reference them again when registration opens.

Landlords will also have to pay an annual fee to register, which the roadmap says will be "confirmed closer to launch." No figure has been published yet, so don't rely on any specific amount quoted elsewhere until the government confirms it.

Marketing and advertising restrictions before you're registered

Section 82 of the Act doesn't just require registration — it restricts what you can do before you're registered. Once the provision is in force:

• You must not market a dwelling to create a new residential tenancy unless there is already an active landlord entry and an active dwelling entry in the Database (section 82(1)).
• Any written advertisement must include the unique identifiers the database operator has allocated to you and the property (section 82(2)).
• You are under a continuing duty to keep both entries active for as long as you let the property (section 82(3)).

A breach of any of these doesn't invalidate the tenancy itself — section 82(5) makes clear the tenancy remains legally valid and enforceable even if you were in breach when you created it. But it does expose you to enforcement, covered next.

Penalties for not registering

The Act sets two tiers of financial exposure, both confirmed directly in the legislation:

• Up to £7,000 — a local housing authority can impose a financial penalty of this amount if satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you've breached the marketing, advertising or ongoing registration duty in section 82(1), (2) or (3) (section 91(2)(a)).
• Up to £40,000 — this higher penalty applies where the conduct amounts to an offence under section 92: knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information to the database operator, continuing a breach more than 28 days after a penalty notice, or repeating a breach within five years of a previous penalty or conviction. The £40,000 figure is the maximum civil penalty a council can impose as an alternative to prosecuting you; if you're prosecuted and convicted instead, the court sets the fine itself rather than being bound to a figure fixed in the Act. You cannot be penalised twice for the same conduct — a council must choose between a financial penalty and referring the matter for prosecution.

Separately from the fines, section 90 of the Act inserts a restriction directly into the court's possession powers: a court may not make a possession order while the landlord is in breach of the ongoing registration duty in section 82(3)(a), unless the ground for possession is one of two grounds dealing with anti-social behaviour and serious criminal conduct. In practice, that means an unregistered landlord could win every argument on the merits of a possession claim under the new Section 8 grounds and still be refused an order simply because they haven't registered. If you're relying on our Section 8 notice guide to plan a possession claim once the Database is live in your area, registration status will need to be checked before you file, not after.

If you're issued a financial penalty, you have 28 days to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal, either against the decision to impose it or against the amount.

The link to rent repayment orders

The Act goes further than fines and possession restrictions. Section 98 amends the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to add the new database offences — providing false or misleading information under section 92(1), and continuing breaches of the registration duty under section 92(2) — to the list of offences that can trigger a rent repayment order, where a tenant (or, in some cases, a local authority) can apply to recover rent already paid. This sits alongside the wider Phase 1 changes that already extended rent repayment orders to superior landlords and doubled the maximum penalty available.

Because this extension depends on the database offence provisions themselves being switched on, it is not yet operative — it will follow the same Phase 2 timetable as the rest of the Database. But it's worth planning for now: it means Database non-compliance won't just be a council enforcement matter once live, it will be a direct financial exposure to your own tenants.

How this fits with your tenancy agreement

PRS Database registration and your written tenancy agreement are two separate compliance duties that reinforce each other. Registration proves who you are and what property you're letting; your tenancy agreement documents the terms you and your tenant have actually agreed, and — since 1 May 2026 — must satisfy the written statement-of-terms requirements the Act introduced. A properly drafted tenancy agreement is good evidence that you're operating on a compliant footing generally, which matters if a council or the database operator ever queries an entry. It also sits alongside your other core paperwork — deposit protection under the rules covered in our tenancy deposits and protection guide, gas and EPC records, and now the Database entry itself.

None of these documents substitute for another. Registering on the Database doesn't remove the need for a compliant tenancy agreement, and having a good tenancy agreement doesn't remove the need to register once the Database is live in your area.

Practical checklist for landlords

• Don't register yet if the Database hasn't launched in your area — check GOV.UK for the current rollout status rather than assuming national coverage.
• Get your existing paperwork in order now — gas safety, EPC, and deposit protection records will all be referenced when you do register.
• Know your unique identifiers will need to appear in adverts once section 82(2) is in force — factor this into how you list properties.
• Budget for an annual fee, even though the amount hasn't been confirmed.
• Treat registration as a precondition for possession, not a formality — section 90 can block a court order on the merits alone.
• Keep entries active and accurate on an ongoing basis — the duty in section 82(3) doesn't end once you've registered once.

Not legal advice

This article explains the current and proposed law as published by the UK government and in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 itself; it is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. TenancyAgreementService.co.uk is a legal information and document publication, not a firm of solicitors, and this content is written from a non-practising solicitor's perspective. For advice on your specific circumstances, consult a practising solicitor, your local authority's private renting team, or GOV.UK's own landlord guidance.