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Renters' Rights Act

The PRS database: what you'll need, per property

From December, landlords in England start paying £65 a year to register each property, and to keep four things about it current: the address and bedrooms, who lives there, the rent, and copies of the gas, electrical and energy certificates. Here is what the register asks for, and how to have it ready before the fee is.

The fee is the small part

£65 a property is a line on a spreadsheet. Finding the current gas certificate, the EICR from three years ago and the EPC for each address — then keeping all three current on a register that can fine you for a lapse — is the part that takes an evening per property. On ten properties, that is a week of evenings, every year.

It has to be right on the day and stay right

The register wants the number of residents and bedrooms and the rent received. Residents change mid-tenancy; rent changes at renewal. A register you update once and forget is a register that is wrong within a year, and the penalties reported for non-compliance start at £7,000.

It arrives on top of everything else

Selective licensing where it applies, the coming redress scheme, Making Tax Digital, and now a register that holds copies of the same certificates you already give to tenants and councils. None of it is new information. All of it has to be found again, in a different place, on a different deadline.

Address, bedrooms, residents — per property

A LetBuddy property record already carries its address and bedroom count, and the tenancy on it names who lives there. When the register asks, it is a read-off rather than a recount.

Rent received

Rent is recorded against the tenancy and tracked as it arrives, so the figure for a property is the current tenancy's rent, not a guess from memory or a search through bank statements.

Gas, EICR and EPC — the copy and the date

Each certificate is stored against its property with its expiry. Upload the PDF and LetBuddy reads the dates off it. The reminder runs ahead of expiry, so the copy you upload to the register is never one that has already lapsed.

The registration itself, as a dated item

PRS database registration is a compliance type in its own right, next to gas, EICR and EPC. Once the rollout reaches your area, give it the date and the annual renewal is reminded like a certificate — so the £65 is paid on time rather than after a fine. A renewal that changes the rent, a new certificate, a tenant moving out: each one updates the record the register will ask about.

What this is not

LetBuddy does not register properties for you, does not connect to the government's register, and cannot submit anything to it. It holds the information the register asks for, per property, so that registering — and keeping the entry current — is a copy-out rather than a search.

The register's details come from the 9 September 2026 announcement as reported. Fees, dates, penalties and what can be delegated to an agent may all change before the rollout reaches you; GOV.UK is the authority, and the NRLA is tracking the questions the announcement left open.

Common questions

What is the PRS database fee?

£65 per property, per year, to register on the government's Register Your Rental Property service, as confirmed on 9 September 2026. The fee is charged each time a different property is registered; whether it is refunded for void periods has not been said.

When does the landlord database start?

Regionally. The government has said it launches in the West Midlands in December 2026 and is introduced across other areas of England over the following twelve months. It applies in England only — the Renters' Rights Act does not extend to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, which have their own registration schemes.

What information does the PRS database require?

As announced: the property address, the number of residents and bedrooms, the amount of rent received, and copies of the required certificates — gas safety, electrical (EICR) and the Energy Performance Certificate. Registration numbers will have to appear on adverts, and unoccupied properties will need registering before they are marketed.

Does registering replace selective licensing?

No. The government has said the database is in addition to local licensing schemes, not a replacement, so a property in a selective licensing area is registered on both and pays for both.

Can my letting agent register for me?

Not confirmed either way. The NRLA's reading is that landlords register their own properties rather than delegating it; the government has not yet published whether an agent can act for you. Until it does, assume the account and the information are yours to keep current.

Have it ready on one property

Your first property is free, permanently. The whole product, no card, no countdown. Upload its three certificates and the record the register will ask for exists.

Start free — first property includedLicensing, which this sits on top of →

Your first property is free forever. No card required.

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