The PRS Database: what it is and when it opens
The government's register of landlords and rented properties opens region by region, from 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands. Each region has 3 months to register. Registration is made with the government, not through Abide.Rent.
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The Private Rented Sector Database is the government's register of landlords and the properties they let in England.
Who this is for: letting agencies and landlords.
Your region’s window, the fee estimate and properties missing numbers.
What you are deciding
When to register each property, and who in your business gathers the numbers.
Your options
- Register in your region's window. Each region opens on the 15th of a month and has until the 14th 3 months later. The fee is £65 for each property each year. Registering gives a Landlord Registration Number and a Property Registration Number.
- Advertise a property. Both numbers must appear on adverts for the property.
- Seek possession. A landlord who has not registered cannot seek possession, except on Grounds 7A and 14.
- Register through software. The government has not announced a way for software to register on a landlord's behalf. Registration is done with the government's own service.
When each region opens
- West Midlands: 15 December 2026 to 14 March 2027
- East of England: 15 January 2027 to 14 April 2027
- East Midlands: 15 February 2027 to 14 May 2027
- South East: 15 March 2027 to 14 June 2027
- Yorkshire and The Humber: 15 April 2027 to 14 July 2027
- North West: 15 May 2027 to 14 August 2027
- North East: 15 June 2027 to 14 September 2027
- London: 15 July 2027 to 14 October 2027
- South West: 15 August 2027 to 14 November 2027
Abide.Rent works out each property's region from its postcode. Where a postcode sits near a regional border, it looks the full postcode up; if it still cannot tell, the property shows "Region not known" and you set the region by hand.
What Abide.Rent does not do
Abide.Rent does not register a landlord or a property, and does not pay the fee.
A worked example
An agency in Birmingham manages 40 properties for 22 landlords, all in the West Midlands. From 15 December 2026 each landlord registers and each property is registered, at £65 a property a year: £2,600.00 a year across the portfolio, paid to the government. As the numbers arrive, the agency records them. By Friday 29 January 2027 its PRS Database page shows 31 properties with both numbers and nine still waiting, with the landlords to chase.
What Abide.Rent does for you
- Stores the Landlord Registration Number and Property Registration Number you give it, against the landlord and the property.
- Shows which of your properties have both numbers and which do not.
- Works out each property's region and shows its window and deadline.
- Reminds you as the deadline for your region approaches.
If something goes wrong
- “Region not known: check the postcode or set the region”
What to do: Set the region on the property. - “The PRS Database … not recorded.”
What to do: Record the numbers once you have registered.
Common mistakes
- Expecting Abide.Rent to register for you. It records the numbers; the government's service issues them.
- Advertising a property before both numbers are recorded.
- Leaving it to each landlord without tracking who has done it.
What to do next
More in PRS Database
PRS Database register pack and renewalsEach property's register pack lists what the government's form asks for, ready to copy, with what to fix first. The landlord registers, pays the yearly fee and renews each year.
Getting your records ready for the PRS DatabaseSee which properties are missing a registration number, and record the numbers as you receive them.
Reports across your propertiesSix read-only reports: compliance risk, tenant responses, evidence gaps, PRS readiness, landlord scorecard and team activity.