London landlord register (draft): when it opens, which councils it covers and what to prepare

When does the landlord register reach London?

15 July 2027, with a deadline to register of 14 October 2027. Regulation 1(3) of the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 brings the regulations into force for landlords of, and dwellings in, London on 15 July 2027, one month after the North East (15 June 2027); The South West follows on 15 August 2027. The deadline is not in the draft, which gives only opening dates: it comes from the "Deadline to register" table on the GOV.UK Housing Hub, which gives each region a three-month window and says that "after this deadline, councils in this region will be able to initiate enforcement activity". It is published policy, not a date in the Act or the regulations.

GOV.UK also says the service itself opens on 15 December 2026 for everyone: "You can register your properties whenever you want from 15 December 2026, but you must register before the registration deadline for your property's area." So a London landlord can register from 15 December 2026 or wait until 15 July 2027; what matters is 14 October 2027. Registration covers landlords of assured and regulated tenancies; supported exempt accommodation is outside it. For now only properties that are let, or become let during the rollout, need an entry; GOV.UK says unoccupied properties and the rules on marketing come later, under further legislation.

Two things are not yet true. The regulations are a draft: legislation.gov.uk labels them "a draft item of legislation" that "has not yet been made". And the duty to register in section 82 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 is in force only for the purpose of making regulations; no commencement order made by 17 October 2026 switches it on. Until both happen the Private Rented Sector Database is not yet a legal duty for anyone in London, and the dates can move. This page describes the position; it is not advice on your lettings.

Which properties count as London?

The region of the property, not of the landlord. Schedule 1 to the draft defines London as the City of London and the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster. A council area is taken as it existed on 15 December 2026, so a property stays in its region even if the council is reorganised before the date arrives.

So a landlord living in the South West with a flat in Croydon meets the London deadline for that flat, and a London landlord with a property elsewhere meets that region's deadline for that property. GOV.UK uses the same example: live in London, let in Birmingham, and the West Midlands deadline applies. Two consequences for a landlord with properties in more than one region:

• Your own landlord entry is due with the earliest region. Regulation 1(3)(a) brings the landlord-entry provisions into force for landlords of dwellings in a region on that region's date, and regulation 4(6) requires an active landlord entry before any dwelling entry, so the landlord entry is needed from the earliest region's date, and GOV.UK expects it by that region's deadline. GOV.UK says you may register everything at once from 15 December 2026 if you prefer.
• Do not make the landlord entry early with nothing attached. Under regulation 11(1)(a) a landlord entry becomes inactive if no dwelling entry names you within three months of making it, so a landlord whose only property is in a later region should register both together.

Landlords outside the UK should note that each dwelling entry needs a correspondence address in England and Wales, which cannot be a PO Box (Schedule 3, paragraph 2). Our free Landlord Register Ready? check places a property in its region from the postcode and counts down to the date.

What a London landlord will need to register

The draft regulations list it, and GOV.UK adds that you will sign in with a GOV.UK One Login, with offline routes for those who need them. For an individual landlord the landlord entry is name, date of birth, residential address, telephone number and email address (Schedule 2, paragraphs 1 to 5). An organisation gives its legal-entity details, its registration numbers and named contacts; the names and addresses of directors or trustees are asked for only where there is no Companies House number (paragraph 15).

Each dwelling entry (Schedule 3) has two parts. Part 1 is the property: address; the landlord's name with a correspondence address in England and Wales and an email address for that dwelling; ownership type; dwelling type; number of bedrooms; whether it is currently let; and any freeholder, superior landlord or property manager. Part 2 is the tenancy and the safety evidence:

• the number of occupants and households, and whether an HMO, additional or selective licence is required, with the licence numbers if available;
• where there is a gas supply, a copy of the gas safety record if one exists, and its issue date;
• a copy of the EICR if one exists, or an appropriate Electrical Installation Certificate, with the EICR expiry date or EIC issue date;
• whether you were required to give the current tenant a valid EPC and, if so, a copy of the most recent one if one exists; if that EPC has lapsed, the date the current tenancy started; and if its rating is below the legal minimum (currently band E), whether a MEES exemption is registered and of what type;
• the rent, how often it is paid and which utilities are included, and whether the home is furnished, part-furnished or unfurnished.

Part 2 may follow within 28 days of the dwelling entry being made (regulation 6(2)); miss that and the entry becomes inactive (regulation 11(2)(a)). Note the word copy: the service asks for the document, not a note that the check was done. An entry can be made without a certificate that does not exist, but the gap is recorded. On agents: a letting agent or property manager may supply the Part 2 information for you (regulation 4(5)), but the entry itself may only be made by the landlord, an intending landlord or a representative listed in Schedule 2 paragraph 17 (regulation 4(2)). GOV.UK puts it plainly: "you as a landlord will remain responsible for providing all required information". The full database guide goes through every paragraph.

Fees, renewals and what happens after the deadline

The draft leaves the fee to the operator (regulation 14). GOV.UK has announced £65 a year per property, pro-rated during the rollout so that the first regions do not pay more; treat it as announced until the fee is published. Entries do not renew themselves: a dwelling entry must be renewed, and the fee paid, on or before the last day of the 12 months beginning with the day the first entry was made, or it becomes inactive the next day (regulation 10). Dwelling entries added later share that first renewal date (regulation 10(4)), so a portfolio renews on one day a year; the landlord entry runs its own 12-month cycle.

Once section 82 is in force for London, three consequences that are dormant today wake up:

• a council penalty, imposed only where the council is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt (s.91), of up to £7,000 for marketing a dwelling without active entries, leaving the identifiers off a written advert, or letting without active, compliant entries, rising to up to £40,000 where the penalty is imposed for a section 92 offence (false or misleading information, a breach continuing 28 days after a penalty, or a repeat within five years);
• no possession order while the landlord, or any joint landlord, does not have active entries for that dwelling, except on Grounds 7A and 14 (s.90); a lapsed renewal triggers this bar as surely as never registering;
• at a later stage, which GOV.UK says will need further legislation and guidance first, no marketing a property to let without active entries and no written advert without the landlord and property identifiers.

All are maxima or bars that apply only after commencement.

In practice: what to do before 14 October 2027

1. Confirm the region of each property against the Schedule 1 list above, or by postcode in the free check.
2. Get the documents in hand as files: a gas safety record dated within the last 12 months if there is gas, an EICR that is still before the next-inspection date on the report (at most five years), and the most recent EPC. An EPC that has lapsed during a tenancy is recorded with the tenancy start date and is not of itself a breach. Where a document is missing, the entry will show it, and councils will use the service for enforcement.
3. Check licensing. If the property is in a council's selective or additional scheme, or is a licensable HMO, you will enter the licence number; apply now if you should hold one and do not. Our HMO licence check covers the test.
4. Collect the tenancy facts: occupants, households, rent and frequency, included utilities, furnished or not, and a correspondence address in England and Wales.
5. Set up GOV.UK One Login for the person who will register. If you use an agent, agree what they will upload for you; you make the entries yourself.
6. Do not pay a third party to register you. You make the entries on the government service, and the only fee is the government's. ComplyWithMe never registers anyone: when the service opens you register yourself, and the app records the identifiers it issues.
7. Decide when to register. From 15 December 2026 you may register any property; the London deadline is 14 October 2027. If you register a landlord entry early, add a dwelling entry within three months or it lapses.

We re-check the Act, the draft regulations and the GOV.UK rollout before every release, and update this page as soon as we can when anything moves. The dates for every region are on one page.

Recent and coming changes

Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.

Questions people ask

Where this comes from

• Draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026, reg 1 (regional commencement dates)
• Draft regulations, Schedule 1 (extent of each region, by council area)
• Draft regulations, reg 4 (who may make an entry; agents may supply Part 2 information; landlord entry first)
• Draft regulations, Schedule 2 (landlord entry)
• Draft regulations, Schedule 3 (dwelling entry: information and documents)
• Draft regulations, reg 10 (renewals)
• Draft regulations, reg 11 (when entries become inactive)
• Draft regulations, reg 14 (fees)
• Draft regulations (contents, status)
• Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.82 (registration duty; commencement note)
• Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.90 (possession: active-entries condition)
• Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.91 (financial penalties)
• GOV.UK Housing Hub: get ready to register (regional deadlines, early registration, fee, agents)

Related guides

• Landlord registry dates: when registration opens in each English region
• The Private Rented Sector Database: England's new landlord database, explained
• Landlord registry UK: is there a landlord register in England, and when does it open?
• How to search the landlord registry in England, and what you can check today
• North East landlord register (draft): when it opens, which councils it covers and what to prepare
• South West landlord register (draft): when it opens, which councils it covers and what to prepare

Latest on this

• 30 September 2026 · Right to Rent digital checks now require registered providers
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From the ComplyWithMe news feed: enforcement decisions and legislation changes, each linked to its official source.