Register your rental property: England's landlord database explained

Compliance & regulation · 5 min read · Published 1 October 2026 · Updated 2 October 2026

In short: every private landlord in England will have to register themselves and each rental property on a new government service called "Register your rental property". It opens on 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, and rolls out region by region until November 2027. The fee is £65 per property per year. Once your region's window closes, you cannot lawfully market an unregistered property, and a court will not grant you possession while your entry is missing. This is England only. Scotland has had landlord registration through local councils for years.

What the register is for

The register is the second phase of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Until now, England had no central list of who lets which homes. Councils trying to enforce standards often did not know who owned a property, and tenants had no easy way to check that a landlord was meeting basic safety duties. The register is meant to fix both problems, and it gives councils a much simpler way to find landlords who are ignoring the rules.

When your region opens

The government is phasing the launch so the system is not swamped. Each region has a three-month window:

If you own in more than one region, each property follows its own region's window.

What you will need to hand

Registration is not just a name and an address. Expect to provide:

• your details, and those of any managing agent or superior landlord;
• the property address, type, number of bedrooms and whether it is an HMO or licensed;
• whether it is let, how many people live there, the rent and how often it is paid;
• your gas safety record, electrical safety report and Energy Performance Certificate.

The register will show quickly whether a property is missing a certificate. If you have been relying on memory for renewal dates, now is the time to put every certificate and expiry date in one place.

What it costs, and what happens if you skip it

The fee is £65 per property per year, pro-rated during the rollout. On a portfolio of ten homes that is £650 a year, a small cost but one to add to your net yield sums.

The penalties are the bigger point. Councils can fine up to £7,000 for marketing or letting an unregistered property or failing to keep details up to date, and up to £40,000 for giving false information or repeated breaches. Tenants can also seek rent repayment orders. Most important for investors, a court cannot grant possession on most grounds unless both the landlord's and the property's entries are active. An overlooked registration can stall an otherwise straightforward case for months.

The ombudsman comes later

The Act also creates a compulsory ombudsman for private landlords, so tenants can complain without going to court. The government's roadmap expects membership to become mandatory in 2028. No fee or start date has been set yet, so treat any figure you see quoted as a guess for now.

What about Scotland and Wales?

Scotland has required landlord registration through local councils since 2006, and Wales runs Rent Smart Wales. If you already let in Scotland, registration with your council is not new, but the English register is a separate system. A portfolio across the border needs both.

This guide is general information for landlords in England, not legal advice. Regulations and dates can change; check the current position on GOV.UK before you register.

Common questions