rentready / Landlord database guides

Landlord database registration in the South East: deadline 14 June 2027

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

If your rental is in the South East, you must register it on the government's Register your rental property service (the landlord database, or PRS Database) by 14 June 2027. The requirement for the South East starts on 15 March 2027; the service opens to every landlord in England on 15 December 2026, so you can register earlier. The region goes by the property's address, not yours. The South East covers Brighton and Hove, Southampton, Portsmouth, Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Canterbury, Guildford, Slough and Maidstone.

Councils in the South East and their licensing schemes

The South East has 64 local councils that act as the local housing authority (ONS, May 2026). The registration service asks whether each property needs an HMO, additional or selective licence, and for the licence numbers (draft Schedule 3, paragraph 10), so check your council first. Mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere; these schemes are on top.

On 28 October 2026 we found 3 councils in the South East with selective licensing and 8 with additional HMO licensing, in force or designated to start.

Arun

• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Parts: River ward (Littlehampton); Hotham and Marine wards (Bognor Regis), until 31 January 2030. Council page

Brighton and Hove

• Selective licensing (in force): Parts: Kemptown, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queens Park, Whitehawk and Marina wards, until 1 September 2029. A further designation for Central Hove and Regency wards, made on 6 July 2026, is paused pending a legal challenge. Council page
• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Whole city, until 30 June 2029. Council page

Medway

• Selective licensing (starts 4 January 2027): Parts: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North and Frindsbury, Watling wards, until 3 January 2032. Council page
• Additional HMO licensing (starts 4 January 2027): Parts: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Watling wards, until 3 January 2032. Council page

Oxford

• Selective licensing (in force): Whole city, until 31 August 2027. Council page
• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Whole city. Council page

Portsmouth

• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Whole city, until 31 August 2028. Council page

Reading

• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Whole borough. Council page

Southampton

• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Parts: Bevois, Bargate, Banister & Polygon, Portswood, Swaythling, Shirley, Bassett, Freemantle & Millbrook wards, until 30 September 2030. Council page

Woking

• Additional HMO licensing (in force): Whole borough, until 4 January 2031. Council page

No selective or additional scheme found on the council's own website: Adur, Ashford, Basingstoke and Deane, Bracknell Forest, Buckinghamshire, Canterbury, Cherwell, Chichester, Crawley, Dartford, Dover, East Hampshire, Eastbourne, Eastleigh, Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Fareham, Folkestone and Hythe, Gosport, Gravesham, Guildford, Hart, Havant, Horsham, Isle of Wight, Lewes, Maidstone, Mid Sussex, Milton Keynes, Mole Valley, New Forest, Reigate and Banstead, Rother, Runnymede, Rushmoor, Sevenoaks, Slough, South Oxfordshire, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Swale, Tandridge, Test Valley, Thanet, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Vale of White Horse, Waverley, Wealden, West Berkshire, West Oxfordshire, Winchester, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham and Worthing. That is not a guarantee: a council can start a scheme at any time, so check before you let.

Not verified: we could not confirm the schemes for Hastings from the council's own website, so we list nothing for them here. Check with the council.

Before 14 June 2027

£65 a property a year (fee). Upload the gas safety record, EICR and EPC (full list) within 28 days or the entry becomes inactive (draft reg 11(2)(a)); renew anything that lapses before 14 June 2027 first. Up to £7,000 if you miss it (penalties).

Questions

When do landlords in the South East have to register?

The requirement starts on 15 March 2027 and the deadline is 14 June 2027. The service opens to every landlord in England on 15 December 2026, so you can register earlier.

Which councils in the South East have selective licensing?

As of 28 October 2026: Brighton and Hove, Medway and Oxford. Most schemes cover only some wards, so check the council's map for your street.

Which councils in the South East have additional HMO licensing?

As of 28 October 2026: Arun, Brighton and Hove, Medway, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton and Woking.

Related guides

Other regions · What you need · Gas · EICR · EPC

Sources

• Get ready to register: Register your rental property (official guidance)
• Draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk; not yet made)
• ONS Open Geography Portal: ward to local authority to region lookup (May 2026)
• Draft Schedule 3, Part 2: what the service asks, including licences

Dates: official guidance and the draft regulations, which Parliament has not yet approved (status). Fee: official guidance. Councils and schemes: read on each council's own website on 28 October 2026. Not legal advice. Last checked 28 October 2026.