Landlords in the West Midlands will need to start registering themselves and their properties on the new PRS database from 15 December.

The ‘Register your rental property’ service will cost an annual £65 per property, which landlords will need to renew each year, or face a fine. Along with property information, they need to include their date of birth, address, phone number, and email address, along with information about rent.

While the government says that in future, tenants will be able to use the service to see if a landlord is compliant with key legal requirements, it explains that information available to tenants “will balance landlords’ privacy concerns with the need for tenants to make better informed rental choices”. It will publish a list of information that the public will be able to access at a later stage.

The service will start rolling out on a regional basis from December in the West Midlands followed by East of England (15 January), East Midlands (15 February), South East (15 March), Yorkshire and Humber (15 April), North West (15 May), North East (15 June), London (15 July) and South West (15 August). Landlords have a three-month deadline to register before local councils can start enforcement activity.

Deadlines

Registration deadlines are based on a property’s location, so for example, if you live in London but your rental property is in Birmingham, you need to meet the deadline for registering in the West Midlands. Landlords can also register before being required to do so, including if you let properties in multiple regions and would like to register these all at once.

Landlords are only required to register their properties if they are currently under let or become let during the rollout period. The government explains that under future legislation, as it rolls out the public interface, landlords will also have to register any unoccupied properties before being marketed.

Under the new system, landlords will also need to record details of properties, including the address and the number of residents and bedrooms, and if the property needs an HMO, additional, or selective licence. They will need to demonstrate health and safety standards have been met by uploading gas, electric, and EPC. A full list of the information is available here.

Process

If you use a letting agent, you will still need to start the registration process yourself. There will be an option for your agent to upload certain information on your behalf.

Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at Property Redress, says the announcement provides welcome clarity. “Hopefully, the phased roll out will mean the task of getting all landlords compliant, but there will need to be careful coordination to avoid confusion, especially where a landlord owns multiple properties over different regions,” he tells LandlordZONE. “Remember it is the property that is key and not the landlord, so not registering a property correctly will be an offence even if the landlord is registered.

“The details of the introduction of the ombudsman is not mentioned but I anticipate an announcement will be made shortly.”

NRLA

The NRLA has concerns that the database will become little more than a national directory for councils, missing a major opportunity to deliver a system which will help raise standards across the market.

“Instead of simply requiring landlords to upload documents, the database should make intelligent use of existing data to verify compliance and ownership,” says chief executive Ben Beadle. “Done properly, it could give tenants confidence, help councils target enforcement and make landlord compliance easier to verify. There is also a real risk of duplication. In many parts of the country landlords already pay for local licensing schemes which collect much of the same information. The government needs to explain how these systems will work together – compliant landlords should not have to pay twice to provide the same information.”

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