Landlords in England will be required to register with a new national service under the Renters’ Rights Act, with the rollout beginning on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands before expanding to other regions throughout 2027.
All landlords actively letting property must complete registration by 14 November 2027. Registration will be mandatory, with landlords facing fines for non-compliance. When a region is called forward, landlords will have a three-month window to register.
The requirements initially apply only to properties currently under let or which become occupied during the rollout period. Under future legislation, landlords will also need to register unoccupied properties before marketing them. Both letting agents and landlords will be required to include registration numbers on property advertisements.
HMRC to handle rent increase challenges
Alongside the landlord register, HMRC will assume responsibility for decisions on challenges to rent increases in England. During the transition period, tenants seeking to challenge an increase must continue to apply to the First-tier Tribunal and will not be required to pay the higher rent until a final decision is made.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook stated: “By transferring responsibility for making initial rent determinations to HMRC’s Valuation Office, we will ensure that challenges to proposed rent increases are determined faster and pressure on the tribunal system is reduced, giving tenants and landlords confidence that rent disputes will continue to be resolved efficiently and effectively.”
Industry concerns over implementation
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, noted that while advance notice of rollout dates is helpful, the government’s decision to limit active registration to landlords may not reflect management arrangements used across the sector. “Requiring each landlord to make a separate entry could create unnecessary delays and discourage timely action,” Douglas said.
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, expressed concern that the database could become “little more than a national directory for councils” rather than a compliance tool. He suggested the system should make intelligent use of existing data to verify compliance and ownership, rather than simply requiring document uploads.
Beadle also highlighted the risk of duplication, noting that in many areas landlords already pay for local licensing schemes collecting similar information. “Compliant landlords should not have to pay twice to provide the same information,” he said.
Scott Goldstein, Property Disputes Partner at Payne Hicks Beach, warned that the scheme will run parallel with existing registration schemes such as selective licensing, making it possible for landlords to face multiple fines of up to £7,000 each for a single property if they fail to register for multiple schemes.
“These hefty penalties may well drive more and more small private landlords out of the market,” Goldstein said. “This drop in rental stock is likely to result in further upward pressure on rents in the short term.”
Administrative and cost implications
Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at Property Redress, noted that while landlords must start and complete the registration process themselves, agents and property managers will be able to provide certain information on their behalf. He advised agents to check their contracts allow for this and to clearly define what support they will provide.
Registration will cost £65 per property and must be renewed annually. In future, unoccupied properties will need to be registered before marketing, and agents and landlords will have to include unique identifiers in advertisements.
Allison Thompson, Chief Lettings Officer at LRG, raised privacy concerns about the personal and property information the database will contain. “Landlords need clarity about exactly what will be visible to tenants and the wider public, what will remain private and how that information will be protected,” Thompson said.
Isobel Thomson, chief executive of safeagent, welcomed the clarification on the rollout timeline, stating it could provide an excellent source of information for tenants and enforcement authorities if utilised properly and integrated into other compliance mechanisms.
Market impact
The registration requirement adds to the regulatory burden on private landlords, coming amid broader changes to the rental sector. Industry observers have expressed concern that increased compliance costs and potential penalties could accelerate the exit of smaller landlords from the market, potentially reducing rental stock availability and placing upward pressure on rents.
The government has indicated that guidance for letting agents regarding the information they will be able to provide on behalf of landlords will be published in due course. Letting agents will need to ensure registration checks become part of their ongoing onboarding, marketing and management processes.
