The New Landlord Database: 12 Questions Landlords Are Asking (and the Answers)
When the government confirmed the details of England's new landlord database on 9 September 2026, I published a video about it. Within a day it had hundreds of comments, and most of them were questions. Some were angry, some were worried, and a surprising number were about situations the official guidance doesn't spell out. This article answers the questions that came up most. It covers England only, reflects the position as at September 2026, and is general information rather than legal advice. 1. What is the new landlord database? The landlord database is a national register of private landlords and the homes they let in England. Its formal name is the Private Rented Sector Database, often shortened to the PRS database. It was created by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and the service you will actually use is called Register your rental property. If you have seen it described as part of the "Renters Reform Bill", that is the earlier bill, which fell at the 2024 general election. The database finally became law through the Renters' Rights Act, which received Royal Assent in October 2025. Every landlord of an assured or regulated tenancy must register themselves and each property they let. Registration gives you a landlord registration number and a property registration number for each home. 2. When does the landlord database open? Registration opens region by region, starting with the West Midlands on 15 December 2026. A new region follows each month until the South West on 15 August 2027. Each region then has three months, so the last deadline in England is 14 November 2027. The region is set by where the property is, not where you live. If your properties are spread across the country, you may have several deadlines. You can find your region's registration window by typing in the town or county each property is in. 3. How much does it cost? £65 per property, per year, renewed annually. It is charged per property rather than per landlord, so a five-property portfolio pays £325 every year. The draft regulations don't fix the amount in law, so expect it to be reviewed over time. 4. Will registering early cost me more? No. The government says the fee will be pro-rated during the rollout, so landlords who sign up first don't pay more. Registering early should not cost you extra, and it avoids a last-minute scramble if a certificate turns out to be missing. 5. Can I pass the fee on to my tenant, and is it tax deductible? You cannot charge it to a tenant as a fee. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 restricts what landlords and agents can take from tenants, and a registration fee is not a permitted payment. It can only be reflected in the rent through a lawful rent increase. On tax, the fee is a cost of running a letting business, so in normal circumstances it sits alongside your other allowable expenses. Check the treatment with your accountant, particularly if you let through a company. 6. I have a lodger. Do I need to register? Not if they are a genuine lodger in the home you live in. A letting by a resident landlord cannot be an assured tenancy, so it falls outside the duty. The exception people get wrong: if you don't live in the property, the people renting rooms there are not "lodgers" in the legal sense. They are normally assured tenants, and the property must be registered. 7. My property already has an HMO or selective licence. Is that enough?...
