The New Landlord Database: What South West Landlords Need to Do

The government’s new landlord database – officially the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database, and branded the “Register your rental property” service – is one of the biggest changes coming out of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. If you let property in Bristol, South Gloucestershire or North Somerset, here’s exactly what it means for you, when you’ll need to act, and how we can take most of the work off your hands.

The essentials, up front:

• It’s a legal requirement, not optional.
• You register per property — £65 per property, per year, renewed annually.
• Registration is the landlord’s responsibility, not the agent’s – but we can prepare everything property-wise and send through all compliance certificates to you.
• Your South West properties must be registered by 14 November 2027.
• You can register early – the service opens on 15 December 2026.

What is the landlord database?

The PRS Database is a national register of landlords and privately rented properties in England, created under the Renters’ Rights Act. The idea is to bring your key compliance information into one place so tenants, councils and landlords can all see that a property is being let properly. Landlords letting under assured or regulated tenancies will need to register themselves and each property they let.

Since all Assured Shorthold Tenancies automatically converted to Assured Periodic Tenancies on 1 May 2026, this will apply to the vast majority of the properties we manage for you.

It’s per property – and it’s your entry to make

Two points that catch landlords out.

First, this is a per-property register. The £65 fee applies to each individual property and is paid each time a property is registered, then renewed each year. If you have a portfolio, that’s £65 for each one. 

If you have a HMO, it’s not per tenancy – still per house. (At least that’s a little less paperwork) 

Second, the government has confirmed that active registration sits with the landlord – agents can’t make the entry on your behalf.

That said, where agreed with you, agents can send your information and certificates, and this is exactly where we come in (more on that below). You start the registration; we make sure you have everything needed sent to you.

What you’ll need to provide

When you register, you’ll be asked for a mix of personal, property and compliance information. Expect to provide your personal details, property specifications, tenancy and rental information, and health and safety documents, specifically:

• Gas Safety Certificate (CP12)
• Electrical safety report (EICR)
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
• Personal and contact details
• Property, tenancy and rent details

For our HMO and student landlords, your HMO licence and any selective licensing details will be relevant too, and if a property relies on a MEES energy-efficiency exemption, that will need to be recorded. These are all documents we already hold and manage for you.

One helpful detail: during the rollout you’ll only need to register properties that are currently let, or that become let during the rollout — genuinely empty properties don’t need registering yet (though that’s set to change under future legislation, when you’ll need to register before marketing a property to let).

When do South West properties need to be registered?

The database rolls out region by region. It opens on 15 December 2026, starting with the West Midlands, then moves across England month by month.

Crucially, your deadline is based on where the property is, not where you live. The deadlines follow the location of the property – so all your Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset properties sit in the South West region, which is last in the sequence. 

Hopefully, any early issues are ironed out before we have to start registering. 

That means your South West properties must be registered by 14 November 2027. You don’t have to wait, though early registration is allowed from 15 December 2026, and if you also let elsewhere in England you can register your whole portfolio in one go rather than by region.

Why it matters

This isn’t a box-ticking exercise. Landlords who fail to register can face civil penalties of up to £7,000, rising to £40,000 for repeated or continued breaches, and non-registration can also affect your ability to gain possession of the property.

Once your region’s deadline has passed, your landlord and property registration numbers will need to appear on any advert or listing — so a property can’t be properly marketed without it.

How Front Door Lettings will help

Here’s the good news: for our managed landlords, this is largely handled.

• We’ll provide every document you need. Gas, electrical, EPC, licensing – we already hold and maintain these for your properties, so when it’s time to register, everything is ready and in date.
• We’re building a landlord portal. You’ll be able to log in and access all your own files in one place – certificates, tenancy records, compliance documents – making registration (and renewals every year) quick and painless.
• We’ll upload on your behalf where you’d like. You make the registration entry; we make sure the compliance side is complete and correct.
• We’re here for any questions. The rules are new and still settling, so if anything’s unclear, just ask – that’s what we’re here for.

If you’d like us to start pulling your documents together ahead of the South West deadline, or you have any questions about how the database affects your properties, get in touch with the team and we’ll walk you through it.

If you’re a landlord looking for better, less stressful full property management, give us a call on 0117 457 8577 or drop us a message below – we’re happy to talk.