Renters’ Rights Act Compliance
Section 21 is gone and every AST is periodic. What the Act requires of landlords and agents, and what runs it.
Learn more →England · Renters’ Rights Act 2025
PRS Database Readiness Checker
Registration on the Private Rented Sector Database becomes mandatory as it rolls out region by region from late 2026. Check whether your property is in scope and whether the paperwork you will be asked to evidence is actually in date.
Rollout late 2026, regional
National 2027
Penalties £7,000 to £40,000
The short answer. The Private Rented Sector Database is a national register of landlords and rented properties in England, created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Registration is being switched on region by region from late 2026, with the whole of England covered during 2027. Every private landlord must register themselves and each property they let.
An agent can do the filing, but the legal duty stays with the person who owns the property. That split is where most of the risk sits, because a landlord who assumes the agent has handled it is still the one who gets the penalty.
The registration itself is administrative. What takes time is the evidence behind it: a gas safety record less than 12 months old, an EICR less than five years old, an EPC, and deposit protection details. Those are the things worth fixing now, while the deadline is still ahead of you.
Not registering does more than cost money
An unregistered landlord cannot obtain a Section 8 possession order except on anti-social behaviour grounds, cannot have the property advertised by an agent or a portal, and cannot renew an HMO licence. Civil penalties start at £7,000 and reach £40,000 for repeat breaches. In practice the loss of possession and marketing rights bites harder than the fine.
Check your readiness
Nothing is stored or sent anywhere. Dates are checked against today.
Valid for five years.
Result
Evidence check
What to do next
The rollout, and what lands when
| When | What happens | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May 2026 | Renters’ Rights Act phase 1. Section 21 abolished, all assured shorthold tenancies become periodic. | Already in force. Possession now runs through Section 8 grounds only. |
| Late 2026 | PRS Database opens, region by region. | Registration becomes mandatory in your area on its own start date, not on a single national date. |
| 2027 | Coverage completes across England. | Every let property in England is expected to be registered. |
| 2028 | PRS Landlord Ombudsman launches. | A route for tenants to escalate without going to court. |
Because the rollout is regional, the practical risk is not missing a famous national deadline. It is that your area switches on quietly while you are looking at a date in 2027. If you hold property in more than one region, you will be registering in waves.
What you will be asked for
The direction of travel is settled even though the final regulations are not. Expect to record who you are and how to contact you, the full address, the property type, the number of bedrooms and households, whether it is furnished, and evidence of gas, electrical and energy performance compliance along with deposit protection details.
Treat the exact field list as provisional. Treat the underlying documents as certain, because none of them are new: a landlord who could not produce a current gas safety record today already has a problem, and the database simply makes it visible.
Whose job is it
Agents can register on a landlord’s behalf and most will. The duty to be registered still belongs to the owner. If you use an agent, get written confirmation of the registration rather than an assurance that it is in hand, and keep it with the tenancy file.
Questions landlords are asking
Does the PRS Database apply in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
No. The database is created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and covers England only. Scotland has its own landlord registration scheme, Wales operates Rent Smart Wales, and Northern Ireland has a separate landlord registration scheme. If you let across borders you are dealing with more than one register.
What happens if I am not registered?
Civil penalties start at £7,000 for a first breach and reach £40,000 for repeat breaches. Beyond the money, you cannot obtain a Section 8 possession order except on anti-social behaviour grounds, an agent or portal cannot advertise the property, and an HMO licence cannot be renewed. With Section 21 abolished, losing Section 8 leaves you with almost no route to possession.
When exactly does my region open?
Phased dates have not all been published. The rollout starts in late 2026 and completes across England during 2027. Because it is regional rather than national, the safe assumption is that your evidence needs to be in order before the end of 2026 rather than at some point in 2027.
Can my letting agent register for me?
Yes, an agent can carry out the registration. The legal duty remains with the landlord. Ask for the confirmation in writing and file it, because an agent’s good intentions are not a defence to a civil penalty.
Do I need an EPC of E or better?
Under the current minimum energy efficiency standard you cannot let a property rated F or G without a valid exemption, and registration is expected to require an EPC of E or above. Standards are due to tighten later this decade, so a property sitting at E is worth planning work for rather than treating as done.
Sources: Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and published government implementation guidance on the Private Rented Sector Database, as at August 2026. The database is still in testing and the exact data fields, document formats and regional start dates remain subject to regulations. This page is guidance, not legal advice.