Guide
England's Private Rented Sector Database: what is confirmed
Updated
England is finally getting a landlord register, and the temptation is to write about it as though it exists. It does not yet. Here is the line between what the Act does and what has actually started.
What the Act does
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 contains a chapter creating the Private Rented Sector Database, covering the database and its operator, making entries, and access to and use of the information in it. gov.uk's guide to the Act states that all landlords of assured and regulated tenancies will be legally required to register themselves and their properties on the database, and that landlords will need to be registered on the database in order to use certain possession grounds (gov.uk).
The timetable government has published
gov.uk's implementation roadmap, published 13 November 2025, splits the Act into three phases. Phase 1, the new tenancy regime and the abolition of section 21, came into force on 1 May 2026. Phase 2 begins from late 2026 and starts with a regional rollout of the database for landlords and local councils. The roadmap states that signing up to the PRS Database will be mandatory for all PRS landlords and that they will be required to pay an annual fee which will be confirmed closer to launch. It states that regulations will mandate registration, the fee and the provision of key information, expected to include at minimum, for each property, the landlord's contact details including all joint landlords, property details such as address, type, bedrooms, households and whether occupied and furnished, and safety information covering gas, electrical and energy performance certificates. Public access and data sharing will be enabled following the launch of landlord registration (gov.uk).
What has not happened yet
- The database is not open. Rollout is described as beginning from late 2026, regionally, so a landlord in one region may be able to register before a landlord in another.
- The fee is not published. The roadmap says an annual fee will be confirmed closer to launch.
- The regulations are not made. The information landlords must provide is to be set out in regulations, subject to the will of Parliament.
- Public access comes later than registration. Tenants will not be able to search on day one.
- The Ombudsman is a separate, later step. The roadmap indicates mandatory landlord membership of the PRS Landlord Ombudsman is expected in 2028.
The penalties government has described
gov.uk's guide to the Act states that local councils will be able to take enforcement action against landlords who fail to join the database: a civil penalty of up to £7,000 where a landlord lets or advertises a property without it first being registered, and up to £40,000 or criminal prosecution for repeated breaches or serious offences such as providing fraudulent information. It also states that landlords in breach of the duty to register will not be able to get a possession order except on grounds 7A or 14, the tenant antisocial behaviour grounds. Treat these as the government's published figures for a duty that has not yet commenced, not as amounts anyone can be fined today.
Two things to watch rather than act on: the database's regional rollout, which is where your own start date will appear, and the regulations setting out what landlords must provide. Until your region opens and those regulations are made, England's live obligations remain your council's licensing schemes.