Landlords will have to register in a national database from December this year, the government has announced.
The mandatory database to which landlords must register is part of the Tenants’ Rights Actwhich came into effect on May 1 this year.
It requires every landlord in England to register with their local authority and list the details of each property they rent out.
The aim is to give municipalities and tenants a single source of information about who owns and manages each property.
Landlords who do not register cannot legally rent out their properties and will face fines if they do not.
The Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the register will launch on December 15 this year, starting in the West Midlands.
New rules: Landlords in every region in England will gradually be asked to sign up and register all their rental properties
It will then be gradually rolled out region by region, with the final part completed by mid-November 2027.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said: ‘The rollout of a national landlord registration service is an important first step towards establishing our new innovative database of properties in the private rented sector that will empower tenants, support responsible landlords and help councils enforce our transformative Renters’ Rights Act.’
That’s what the MCLG said will initially only apply to landlords with rented properties, and not to vacant properties.
But under future legislation, landlords will also be required to register vacant properties before marketing them for rent, and letting agents and landlords will have to include registration numbers in advertisements.
When an area is called to register, landlords with properties in the region have three months to register.
All landlords who actively rent out real estate must have registered no later than November 14, 2027.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said he is concerned that the private rental sector database will be little more than a list of all landlords in a local area.
He said: ‘Rather than just a list of local landlords, the database should be a real compliance tool that helps tenants and councils check that properties meet required standards, while allowing responsible landlords to demonstrate they are meeting their obligations.
‘Rather than simply requiring landlords to upload documents, the database should intelligently use existing data to verify compliance and ownership.
“By rushing to launch a stripped-down, minimum viable product, the government risks building the database quickly instead of building it properly.”
Beadle also fears that there is a real risk of duplication with local licensing systems.
“In many parts of the country, landlords already pay for local licensing systems that collect much of the same information,” he added.
‘The Government must explain how these systems will work together – compliant landlords should not have to pay twice to provide the same information.’
Clara Collingwood, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said that oOnce established, the landlord database would form the cornerstone of the Tenants’ Rights Act.
She said: ‘Without this, tenants would be left in the dark about who we rent from, and councils would struggle to protect our new rights and crack down on landlords who break the law.
‘While the government has now set a timeline for rolling out the landlord side of the database, we still need to know when the public-facing tenant side of the database will be complete.
‘This should be a publicly available tool that tenants can use to ensure their rights are not ignored, and to make both tenants and landlords aware of the new requirements for landlords.’
Update on challenging rent increases
The Department of Housing’s announcement also provided some details on how tenants can use their new powers to challenge rent increases.
It says HMRC’s Valuation Office Agency will be made responsible for this process and legislation will be brought forward ‘when parliamentary time permits’.
Under the new law, landlords are limited to only one rent increase per year and at a level that is in line with market rates.
Tenants can appeal against excessive above-market rents, which are purely intended to force them out of the home, and can challenge their rent in a court within six months of moving into a home.
Pennycook added: ‘By transferring responsibility for setting the initial rent to HMRC’s Valuation Office, we will ensure that challenges to proposed rent increases are determined more quickly and reduce pressure on the tribunal system, giving tenants and landlords confidence that rental disputes will be resolved efficiently and effectively.’
