Private Rented Sector Landlord Database — What It Means for Tenants

A National Register for Every Private Landlord

One of the landmark provisions of the Renters Rights Act 2025 is the creation of a national Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database — effectively a mandatory register of every landlord operating in the private rented sector in England. For the first time, tenants have a practical tool to verify who their landlord is and whether they are operating legally.

What Landlords Must Do

Every landlord who lets a residential property in England is required to register on the PRS Database. Registration involves providing:

• Their full name and contact address
• Details of each property they let
• Confirmation that they comply with basic standards (gas safety, electrical safety, deposit protection)

Landlords must keep their registration up to date. Registration is not a one-off exercise — changes in portfolio or personal details must be notified.

Agents acting on behalf of landlords have their own obligations to ensure the landlords they represent are registered.

Penalties for Non-Registration

A landlord who fails to register, or who lets with inaccurate registration details, faces a civil penalty of up to £5,000 for a first offence and up to £30,000 for repeat breaches. More significantly, unregistered landlords **lose the ability to use certain possession grounds** — meaning they may not be able to evict tenants using some Section 8 grounds until they have remedied their registration failure.

This creates a powerful incentive for compliance, and a corresponding protection for tenants whose landlords have not registered.

How Tenants Can Use the Database

The PRS Database is publicly searchable. As a tenant, you can:

**Before signing a tenancy:** Search for your prospective landlord's name or property address to confirm they are registered. An unregistered landlord is a red flag — they may not be aware of (or may be deliberately avoiding) their legal obligations.

**During a tenancy:** If a dispute arises — over repairs, deposit, conduct — you can check the database to confirm registration and use non-registration as part of a complaint or legal argument.

**When reporting concerns:** If you report your landlord to the council for failing to meet standards, the council will cross-reference the database. An unregistered landlord faces additional penalties on top of any standards enforcement.

The Private Rented Sector Ombudsman

Alongside the database, the Renters Rights Act created a mandatory Private Rented Sector Ombudsman. Every landlord in England must be a member. The Ombudsman provides an independent dispute resolution service covering:

• Maintenance and repairs
• Deposit disputes (beyond what the tenancy deposit schemes cover)
• Communication and conduct
• Non-compliance with tenancy terms

**Using the Ombudsman is free for tenants.** Decisions are binding on landlords and can require them to take action or pay compensation. This is a significant improvement on the previous position where taking a landlord to court was often the only option.

What Information Is Publicly Available?

The exact scope of public access to the database is set by secondary legislation, but tenants can expect to be able to verify:

• Whether a landlord is registered
• The registration reference number
• Whether there are any sanctions or bans recorded against the landlord

More detailed information — such as historic complaints — may be available to local authorities and the Ombudsman rather than to the general public.

The Rogue Landlord Problem

Research before the Renters Rights Act estimated that around 10% of private landlords in England were responsible for the majority of complaints and enforcement actions. The PRS Database, combined with the Ombudsman, is designed to make it harder for rogue landlords to move from area to area while avoiding enforcement.

A landlord who has been the subject of enforcement action, banning orders, or Ombudsman decisions will have a visible history on the database that local authorities can access. This increases accountability significantly.

Banning Orders

Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, landlords convicted of certain offences (illegal eviction, failure to licence an HMO, breaching an improvement notice) can be banned from letting property for a defined period. Banning orders are recorded on the national database.

If your landlord is subject to a banning order, any tenancy they have granted is affected — and you may be entitled to a Rent Repayment Order to recover rent paid during the ban period.

Using Property Passport UK Alongside the Database

Property Passport UK is a complementary tool. While the PRS Database confirms your landlord's registration status, Property Passport UK lets you store all your tenancy documents, repair records, and correspondence in one place — giving you the evidence base you need to make effective use of the Ombudsman or enforcement routes when needed.