Landlord database checklist: the Renters' Rights Act register

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

This checklist covers the part of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 that every private landlord in England with a let property must act on by a fixed date: registering on the landlord database. Unoccupied properties need not be registered yet, and supported exempt accommodation is excluded (official guidance). Work through it for each property before your region's deadline. The first deadline is 14 March 2027, in the West Midlands. The Act makes other changes too, and this page does not cover them.

Before your window opens

Find each property's region and deadline. The deadline follows the property's address, not yours. See the deadlines by region.
Check the gas safety record. It is annual. Will it still be in date at the deadline? Skip this if the property has no gas.
Check the EICR. It is five-yearly. Note its expiry date, because the service asks for it.
Check the EPC. It is ten-yearly. If it has lapsed, note the start date of the current tenancy.
Check the EPC rating. Today's minimum is E. For F or G, find your registered MEES exemption.
Book any renewal that falls before the deadline, before the certificate runs out.
Scan each certificate as a PDF.
Gather your own details: name, date of birth, address, phone and email, or your organisation's details.
Gather each property's details: ownership and dwelling type, bedrooms, occupants and households, licences, furnishing, rent and how often it is paid, and any utilities included.
Set up GOV.UK One Login. You start the entry yourself with it.
Budget the fee: £65 per property per year.

Registering

Register any time from 15 December 2026, and by your region's deadline. You can register properties in several regions at once.
Upload the gas safety record, EICR and EPC within 28 days of making each property's entry, or the entry becomes inactive (in the draft regulations, regulation 6(2) and regulation 11(2)(a); not yet in official guidance).
Agree with your agent which information they will upload, if you use one. You still start and finish the entry yourself.

After registering

Keep each entry up to date: when a certificate is renewed or any detail changes, update the entry within 28 days of the old information going out of date (draft regulation 9(4), under section 78).
Renew every 12 months from your first entry. Properties added later share that renewal date (in the draft regulations, regulation 10, and reported by the NRLA; not yet in official guidance).
Put the database identifiers in every written advert, and do not market a property without active entries (section 82).
Check what you enter. Knowingly or recklessly giving false information is an offence (section 92).

Why it matters

Penalties are up to £7,000 for a breach (section 91) and up to £40,000 for the offences in section 92: false information, continuing a breach after a penalty, or a repeat within five years. Without an active entry, the court cannot make a possession order, except on Ground 7A or Ground 14 (section 90). See the penalties guide.

Let rentready do steps 1 to 6

Add each property's postcode, certificate dates and EPC rating. rentready works out the region and deadline, checks every certificate against it, and tells you what to book and by when. The registration pack then covers steps 7 to 11: every question in the service's own words, with the gaps marked. The calendar file covers the dates for the rest.

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 must landlords do under the Renters' Rights Act by 2027?

Register themselves and each let property in England on the Register your rental property service, by their region's deadline. Deadlines run from 14 March 2027 to 14 November 2027.

Which certificates do I need to register?

The gas safety record if the property has gas, the EICR (or EIC) with its expiry date, and the latest EPC.

How much does it cost?

£65 per property per year, according to the official guidance.

Does this checklist cover the whole Act?

No. It covers the landlord database only. The Act makes other changes too.

Related guides

Sources

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