Landlords in England will pay £65 a year for every rental home they own once landlord database registration begins on 15 December 2026, the government has confirmed. A 12-month regional rollout starts in the West Midlands, and signing up will be compulsory for every private sector landlord.
For portfolio investors the arithmetic is unforgiving. The charge applies per property rather than per landlord, so a 20-unit portfolio faces an annual bill of £1,300, and the penalties for ignoring the register are far steeper.
How the landlord database registration timetable works
The database is being introduced under phase two of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The government has branded it the Register Your Property Service.
Regions will come online in turn, and landlords in each area will have a three-month window to comply once their slot opens. The government’s registration guidance sets out when each region opens.
The final deadline is 14 November 2027, by which date all landlords must be registered.
Who has to register, and who does not
The duty covers homes let on assured or regulated tenancies. That includes all existing tenancies as well as any agreed while the rollout is under way.
Empty homes being marketed to let are exempt for now. The reprieve is temporary: in future, landlords will need a registration number before they can advertise a property.
Letting agents cannot register homes on a landlord’s behalf. The job falls to landlords themselves, which will come as an unwelcome surprise to investors who have handed compliance to an agent wholesale.
Those who fail to sign up could face civil penalties of up to £7,000, rising to £40,000 for multiple or continued breaches.
What landlords will need to provide
Registration is expected to take place through the government website, and it is understood that each property will need to be added individually. For larger portfolios, that points to a significant block of admin time.
When the timetable was announced, the government had not confirmed exactly what data would be required, with details due on 10 September 2026. The information is expected to include:
- the property address
- the type of ownership: freehold, leasehold or commonhold
- the type of property, such as detached, semi-detached or terraced
- whether the property is licensed
- how many people live there and whether it is an HMO
- the rent, its frequency and whether bills are included
- the relevant safety certificates: gas, EPC and EICR or EIC
Most of this should already sit in a well-run landlord’s files. Investors whose records are patchy may find the exercise exposes gaps, which strengthens the case for keeping ongoing evidence of property condition throughout each tenancy.
Owners of shared houses should also double-check their licensing position, given that it forms part of the submission. Our guide to the legal responsibilities of HMO landlords covers the ground.
Rent disputes to move to the Valuation Office
Alongside the timetable, the government revealed plans to give the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) new powers to rule on rent disputes.
Once new legislation is passed, challenges to section 13 rent increases will be decided by the VOA instead of the First-tier Tribunal, which hears them at present. The aim is to speed up the process and free up tribunal time.
The scheme is expected to take two years to introduce, although it is not yet clear when that process will begin.
What this means for investors is a new fixed cost and a new compliance deadline arriving together. The £65 fee is modest per unit but mounts across a portfolio, while fines of up to £40,000 make non-registration an expensive gamble.
Landlords in the West Midlands have the least time to prepare, and anyone relying on an agent must build registration into their own diary.
With the register set to become a gateway to advertising, and rent challenges heading to a process designed to be quicker, the paperwork burden that has pushed some owners into selling up ahead of the renters’ rights reforms is only moving in one direction.
