Landlord database (PRS Database) penalties

Written by GenZAgents, reviewed 28 October 2026. Sources below.

If you let or market a property in England without an active entry on the landlord database, the council can fine you up to £7,000. Offences such as giving false information or repeating a breach carry up to £40,000. And while you have no active entry, the court cannot make a possession order, except on Ground 7A or Ground 14 (section 90). Enforcement in each region can start after that region's deadline.

Up to £7,000: breaching the database rules

Section 91 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 lets a local housing authority impose a financial penalty of up to £7,000 for a breach of section 82 (section 91). Section 82 sets three rules (section 82):

a person must not market a dwelling for a residential tenancy unless there are active landlord and dwelling entries on the database;
a written advert for a residential tenancy must include the landlord's and the dwelling's unique identifiers from the database;
a residential landlord must have active landlord and dwelling entries, and keep to the rules about them set by regulations.

The council must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the breach happened.

Up to £40,000: offences

Section 92 creates offences (section 92). They include:

knowingly or recklessly giving the database false or misleading information;
carrying on the same breach for 28 days after a penalty for it;
committing a different breach of the section 82 rules within five years of a penalty.

For these, the council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 under section 91. Or the case can go to court, where a conviction carries a fine. The council cannot impose a civil penalty for conduct that has already led to a conviction or is being prosecuted.

More than one penalty

A second penalty for the same conduct is only possible if the conduct carries on after 28 days. That period runs from the day after the previous penalty, or from the end of any appeal (section 91).

No possession order

Section 90 changes the Housing Act 1988. The court may not make an order for possession while the landlord is in breach of the rule to have active landlord and dwelling entries (section 90). The exception is possession on Ground 7A or Ground 14 of Schedule 2 to the 1988 Act. With joint landlords, a breach by any one of them counts.

So an inactive entry matters most when you need the property back. It stops the claim unless it is on Ground 7A or Ground 14.

When enforcement starts

The official guidance says that after each region's deadline, councils in that region can start enforcement. The first deadline is 14 March 2027, in the West Midlands; the last is 14 November 2027, in the South West. The deadlines by region guide has the full table.

How to stay clear

Register each let property before its region's deadline.
Upload the gas safety record, EICR and EPC within 28 days of making the entry (in the draft regulations, regulation 6(2), and reported by the NRLA; not yet in official guidance).
Keep the entry up to date when a certificate is renewed.
Renew every 12 months from your first entry (in the draft regulations, regulation 10, and reported by the NRLA; not yet in official guidance).
Put the database identifiers in every written advert.
Check what you enter. False information is an offence.

Check your properties free Runs in your browser. Only the postcode leaves it, to find the region.

The two 28-day rules

Upload within 28 days, or the entry goes inactive. You can make a property's entry before you have the tenancy and safety details (occupiers, licences, gas safety record, EICR, EPC, rent), but they must be added within 28 days of making the entry (draft regulation 6(2)). If they are not, the entry becomes inactive (draft regulation 11(2)(a)). An inactive entry is the same as no entry: letting the property risks a penalty of up to £7,000, and the court cannot make a possession order except on Ground 7A or Ground 14 (section 90).
Update within 28 days of any change. When information or a document in the entry goes out of date, for example when the annual gas safety check replaces last year's record, or a new EICR replaces the old one, the entry must be updated within 28 days of the day it went out of date (draft regulation 9(4)). For gas, that is every year.

Both rules are in the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, which Parliament has not yet approved; the official guidance does not mention them yet.

Questions

What is the fine for not registering on the landlord database?

Up to £7,000 for a breach of the database rules in section 82 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

When can the fine be £40,000?

For the offences in section 92: knowingly or recklessly giving false information, continuing a breach 28 days after a penalty, or a different breach within five years of a penalty.

Can I evict a tenant if I have not registered?

The court cannot make a possession order while you are in breach of the rule to have active entries, except on Ground 7A or Ground 14.

When does enforcement start?

The official guidance says councils can start enforcement after their region's deadline. The first is 14 March 2027, in the West Midlands.

Related guides

Sources

Not legal advice. Check gov.uk before relying on this. Last checked 28 Oct 2026.