The government says the requirement to register rental properties in London starts on 15 July 2027, with a deadline of 14 October 2027 and an annual fee of £65 per property. The dates come from government guidance and from regulations that are still in draft. You do not need to do anything on the register yet, but most of what it asks for is paperwork you can gather now. Our Renters' Rights Act guide covers the register in a few lines. This article goes through what it will hold and how to get ready.
What is settled and what is not
| Question | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| Is there a register? | Yes. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 provides for a mandatory Private Rented Sector Database. |
| London dates | Government guidance gives 15 July 2027 as the start and 14 October 2027 as the deadline, and says you can register earlier, from 15 December 2026. The draft regulations contain the 15 July 2027 start date. |
| Are the regulations law yet? | No. They are a draft, laid on 9 September 2026 and needing both Houses' approval. Parliament's tracker shows a government motion tabled and a check by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments on 14 October 2026, but no approval and no date made. |
| Fee | £65 per property per year in the guidance. The draft regulations do not set it. |
| Penalties | Not yet in force. When they are, a council can impose a penalty of up to £7,000 for each breach of the registration duties, and repeat penalties are possible if a breach continues. Repeat or continuing breaches and giving false information are offences, with a civil penalty of up to £40,000 or prosecution. Starting levels have not been published. |
| What tenants and the public can see | Not yet set out. It is left to a later instrument. |
Who has to register
Once the duty is switched on, landlords of assured or regulated tenancies in England will have to register themselves and each property. The Act's duty is not yet in force: a separate commencement order is still needed, according to the explanatory memorandum. Supported exempt accommodation, as defined in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, is excluded. Joint landlords each make their own landlord entry and share one entry for the property.
The deadline follows the property. The government's table gives each region a start date on the 15th of a month and a deadline in the third month after, from the West Midlands (15 December 2026 to 14 March 2027) to the South West (15 August 2027 to 14 November 2027). The draft regulations put the London boroughs, including Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest, in the London region. After a region's deadline, the government says councils there will be able to start enforcement. Its September announcement says all landlords actively letting property need to be registered by 14 November 2027, which is the last region's deadline.
What the register will hold
The draft regulations list the information in two schedules. These are the items to gather.
About you. An individual landlord gives their name, date of birth, residential address, telephone number and email address. A company or other organisation gives its name, legal entity type, an address that is not a PO Box, contact details, the person making the entry, a nominated contact, and a Companies House or charity number where it has one.
About the property.
- the address, the type of property and the number of bedrooms;
- the ownership type and whether it is currently let;
- a correspondence address in England or Wales (not a PO Box);
- the name and email address of any freeholder, superior landlord or property manager.
About the tenancy and safety.
- the number of occupants and households;
- whether an HMO, additional or selective licence is required, and the licence numbers if you have them;
- a copy of the gas safety record and its issue date, if gas is supplied;
- a copy of the electrical installation condition report (or certificate) and its expiry or issue date;
- a copy of the latest EPC, and the tenancy start date if that EPC is no longer valid;
- whether a registered exemption applies, if the EPC is below the minimum energy efficiency level;
- the rent, how often it is paid, whether utilities are included, and whether the property is furnished.
The schedules say "if one exists" for the certificates. They do not ask for an ombudsman membership number.
What happens after you register
These rules are in the draft regulations and the government's explanatory memorandum, so they could still change.
- Tenancy and safety details can follow within 28 days. For a let property, that information must be added within 28 days of the property entry being made, or the entry becomes inactive. If the property is not yet let, the 28 days start on the day the tenancy begins.
- Changes need updating within 28 days. This applies when information in either entry goes out of date.
- A landlord entry needs a property behind it. If no property entry is made within three months, the landlord entry becomes inactive.
- Entries renew every 12 months. Renewing a property entry needs the fee. A second property you register takes the same renewal date as your first.
An inactive entry matters. The Act bars marketing a dwelling without active entries (section 82(1)) and requires the landlord to keep them active (section 82(3)). It says a breach does not make the tenancy invalid (section 82(5)). Section 90 would stop a court making a possession order while a landlord is in breach of the duty to keep entries active, except on Grounds 7A and 14. None of this is in force yet: the Act's database sections are in force only for making regulations, and we found no order commencing them.
A worked example
Take a landlord who lives in Edmonton and rents out a flat in Enfield and a house in Hertfordshire. The flat is in the London region: 15 July to 14 October 2027. The house is in the East of England region: 15 January to 14 April 2027, six months sooner. The government says you can register early, from 15 December 2026, but must register before your property's deadline.
The draft rule that a later property takes the renewal date of the first has a side effect. Register the Hertfordshire house in January and the Enfield flat will renew on the January cycle. The guidance says the fee is adjusted during the rollout so nobody pays more for going early, but it does not explain how.
What to do now
- List every let property and note which region its council area falls in. The list of areas is in Schedule 1 of the draft regulations.
- Gather the certificates. Collect the gas safety record, electrical report and EPC, and write down their dates. Our landlord legislation guide explains each one.
- Check licensing. Note any HMO, additional or selective licence numbers. In Edmonton, see our article on Enfield's selective licensing, or the licensing guide.
- Collect third-party details. Get the name and email address of any freeholder, managing agent or property manager.
- Write down the tenancy facts. Record the number of occupants and households, the rent and how often it is paid, and whether utilities are included.
- Set up a GOV.UK One Login. You need one to use the service.
- Agree roles with your agent. Decide in writing who starts the registration, who uploads what and who watches the renewal date.
- Diary the dates. Add 28-day update reminders, the annual renewal, and your region's deadline.
- Start a landlord entry only when the property details are ready, because of the three-month rule.
If you let a property around Edmonton and would like to talk it through, get in touch with our lettings team. The Edmonton area guide shows where the area sits.
What the sources do not settle
- Whether Parliament has approved the regulations, and whether the final text matches the draft.
- What 15 September 2027 covers. The draft says the regulations apply "for all other purposes" from that date. The memorandum does not explain it.
- Starting penalty levels for registration breaches. The government's penalty guidance says it will be updated once the database provisions are in force.
- Adverts. Section 82 of the Act says written adverts must carry the landlord and property identifiers. The Housing Hub says this comes at a later stage, with guidance to follow.
- What the public will see, and when.
- The ombudsman. The government expects mandatory membership in 2028 but has not confirmed the details.
Questions readers ask
I live outside London. Do I register on the London dates?
The government says registration deadlines are based on the property's location, not where the landlord lives. A flat in Enfield falls in the London region whatever your home address is, and a property in Hertfordshire or Essex falls in the East of England region, where the requirement starts six months earlier.
Will my letting agent register me?
Not on its own. The government says you must start the registration yourself, and an agent or property manager can then upload certain information for you. You remain responsible for providing all of the required information, so agree in writing who does what.
How much does it cost?
The government's guidance says there is an annual fee of £65 per property and that registration is renewed each year. The fee is not written into the draft regulations, which leave it to the database operator to set by reference to its costs, so treat £65 as the announced figure rather than a fixed one. During the rollout the fee is adjusted so that people who register first do not pay more.
I have a property that is empty. Do I have to register it now?
The government says that for now you only need to register properties that are currently let or that become let during the rollout. It says that under future legislation, unoccupied properties will need to be registered before you or your agent market them for let. No date for that has been given.
Is joining the landlord ombudsman part of registering?
Nothing in the draft regulations asks for ombudsman membership when you register. The government's roadmap says the Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman will be mandatory for landlords and expects that membership in 2028.
Sources
- Housing Hub (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), Get ready: Register your rental property service, read on 16 October 2026 (no date shown on the page).
- GOV.UK, Stronger protections and greater confidence for renters, published 9 September 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (draft), read on 16 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, Explanatory Memorandum to the draft Regulations (PDF), read on 16 October 2026.
- UK Parliament, Procedure browser: Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, read on 16 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 82, section 90 and section 91, read on 16 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025: our roadmap, published 13 November 2025.
- GOV.UK, Civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation, published 13 November 2025.
