Do landlords have to register on a database?

The Private Rented Sector Database is the national register of private landlords and their properties introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The principle is simple: a landlord must be registered before letting a property in England, and prospective tenants can search the register before signing anything.

What it will hold, and why it matters to tenants

The database records information about landlords, the properties they let, and compliance with key landlord obligations. For tenants that means a way of checking, in advance, whether the person offering you a tenancy is registered and what their record shows — the sort of due diligence that has never previously been possible in the private sector.

Two enforcement features give the register teeth:

• Councils enforce it, with civil penalties for failing to register or for providing false information, and banning orders in the worst cases.
• Possession is restricted. A landlord who is not registered cannot serve a valid Section 8 notice relying on certain grounds — a significant practical consequence now that Section 21 has gone.

Failure to register is also among the offences the Act adds to the rent repayment order regime, so an unregistered landlord risks being ordered to repay rent to their tenants.

Timing, scope and what to do meanwhile

The Act received Royal Assent in 2025, but the database provisions depend on secondary legislation and are being phased in, so check the GOV.UK guidance on the Renters’ Rights Act for the current commencement position before relying on them.

It applies to England only. Wales already has Rent Smart Wales, and Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own regimes. It also sits alongside local licensing rather than replacing it: an HMO or a property in a selective licensing area still needs its licence as well as database registration.

If you believe your landlord is not registered once the duty is live, report it to your council’s housing enforcement team and consider a rent repayment order application. Do not withhold rent — you remain contractually liable, and arrears simply hand the landlord a possession ground.