Ready to register? The landlord register checklist

Before you start: your landlord details

The ‘Register your rental property’ service is the government’s name for the landlord register, the Private Rented Sector Database. You register yourself as a landlord once, then add each property. You need a GOV.UK One Login, and you can choose to verify your identity. A paper application is available for landlords without digital access.

Joint landlords each register. One of them registers the property and invites the others to the property registration. If you own part of a let property and are entitled to possession, you register as a joint landlord even if your name is not on the tenancy agreement. A company, charity, trust or limited liability partnership registers as an organisation.

• Individual landlord: your name, date of birth, home address, telephone number and email address.
• Organisation: its name, legal type, address (not a PO box), telephone, email, a nominated contact, and its Companies House or charity number if it has one. Without a Companies House number, the names, dates of birth and addresses of every director, trustee or partner.
• Acting for someone else, for example under a power of attorney, as an executor or as a receiver: your details and a certified copy of the document that gives you authority.

Sources: GOV.UK: Register your rental property service, guidance for landlords · Housing Hub (HM Government): information you’ll be asked to provide

Each property: the details the register asks for

Every let home is its own property registration, and each one pays its own fee. An HMO with a licence is one registration for the whole building, not one per room. Once you pay, the property is given a rental property number.

• The address of the property.
• A correspondence address in England or Wales (not a PO box) and an email address for the landlord.
• The ownership type and the dwelling type, for example a flat or a house.
• The number of bedrooms.
• Whether it is let at the moment.
• The name and email address of the freeholder, any superior landlord and any managing agent.

Sources: GOV.UK: Register your rental property service, guidance for landlords · Housing Hub (HM Government): information you’ll be asked to provide

The tenancy and the rent

The register asks how the home is occupied and what it costs. If the property needs an HMO, additional or selective licence, have the licence number to hand. Our guides to HMO licences and selective licensing explain which homes need one.

• The number of people living there and the number of households.
• Whether it needs an HMO, additional or selective licence, and the licence numbers if you have them.
• Whether it is let furnished, part furnished or unfurnished.
• The rent and how often it is paid.
• Whether the rent includes any bills, and which.

Sources: Housing Hub (HM Government): information you’ll be asked to provide

Gas safety record

If the property has a gas supply, you upload a copy of the current gas safety record and give its issue date. A gas safety check is needed every 12 months, so look at the date before you register: a record that runs out during your registration window means booking an engineer first. Our guide to the gas safety certificate covers the rules.

Sources: Housing Hub (HM Government): information you’ll be asked to provide · GOV.UK: Register your rental property service, guidance for landlords

TenancyDesk reminds you before the gas safety record runs out. Start the free trial

Electrical report (EICR)

You upload a copy of the Electrical Installation Condition Report, or the Electrical Installation Certificate for a new installation, and give the date it runs out. An EICR is needed at least every five years, or sooner if the report says so. See our guide to the EICR.

Sources: Housing Hub (HM Government): information you’ll be asked to provide

TenancyDesk reminds you before the EICR is due. Start the free trial

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

The register asks whether you had to give the current tenant a valid EPC and, if so, for a copy of the most recent one. If that EPC has since expired, it asks for the date the current tenancy started. If the rating is below the minimum standard, currently E, it asks whether a Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards exemption is registered and which kind. Our guide to EPC rules explains when one is needed.

Sources: Housing Hub (HM Government): information you’ll be asked to provide · GOV.UK: domestic private rented property minimum energy efficiency standard, landlord guidance

TenancyDesk tracks each EPC’s ten-year expiry. Start the free trial

Paying, the 28-day rule and renewal

You pay £65 a property, reduced in the first year during the rollout, with no VAT. You can submit a property and add the tenancy and certificate details later, but they must be in within 28 days or the registration may be deactivated. After that, anything that changes or expires, a new gas record or a new tenancy, must be updated within 28 days. Updates are free.

All your properties share one renewal date, a year after you register the first. A letting agent can add the tenancy and safety details once the property has its number, but you must start the registration and you stay responsible for it.

Your deadline is set by where each property is. Find yours on the page for your region: West Midlands, East of England, East Midlands, South East, Yorkshire and Humber, North West, North East, London or South West.

Sources: GOV.UK: Register your rental property service, guidance for landlords

Common questions