The landlord register is coming: what do Bingley landlords need to do?

By Sean Moore, Director, Hunters Bingley & Shipley

The short version: you’ll need to register yourself and each home you let on the government’s “Register your rental property” service. If you let a home in Bingley, the window runs from 15 April to 14 July 2027. It costs £65 a property, every year.

There’s nothing to do today. But it’s a lot easier to sort over the winter than in a panic next July, so here’s the plain-English version. I’ll admit I’ve read the government guidance more times than is strictly healthy.

First, what is it?

It’s a national register of private landlords and their rental homes, set up by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. You might hear it called the PRS database. Councils will use it to check landlords are following the rules, and in time tenants will be able to look up whether their landlord meets the main legal requirements.

If you let a home on an assured tenancy, which is most private lets, you’ll need to register.

The dates for Bingley

The dates follow the property, not you. If you live in Bingley but let a house in Birmingham, that one goes on the West Midlands timetable.

The service opens on 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, then moves round England a region at a time. Bingley is in Yorkshire and the Humber, which means:

• the rules start applying on 15 April 2027

• you have until 14 July 2027 to register

• after that, the council can take action

You can register early, any time from 15 December, and the fee is pro-rated during the rollout so early registrations shouldn’t cost more. Only homes that are let, or become let during the rollout, need registering for now. Empty homes come later, along with registration numbers on adverts.

The cost

£65 per property per year. Two rentals, £130 a year. There’s no way to upload a whole portfolio in one go, so each home is its own registration.

I’m a landlord as well, so this one’s going on my own list too. I’d budget for it the same way you would the gas safety check: once a year, every year.

The paperwork

You’ll need a GOV.UK One Login and your own contact details, then for every home:

• address, property type and bedrooms

• the number of people and households living there

• furnished, part furnished or unfurnished

• HMO, additional or selective licence numbers, if you have any

• the rent, how often it’s paid, and any bills it includes

Then the certificates go up: gas safety record (if there’s gas), electrical safety report (EICR) and EPC, where you had to give one to your tenant. If the EPC is below the minimum rating, you’ll need to say whether you’ve registered an exemption.

The spreadsheet geek in me says start a list now, one row per property, with each certificate’s expiry date. From what I’ve seen, a missing or expired electrical report is the thing most likely to hold people up.

Alex Harrison, who runs our lettings team, sees the same thing.

“The most common issue I see with self-managing landlords is how much time accurate record keeping takes,” she says. “They get the certificate done the first time, but don’t realise how long it can take to renew it with a tenant in the property. So the new certificate is often done after the old one has expired, and gaps in the certificate history can be a risk.”

Own it jointly, or live overseas?

Joint landlords each register separately, and that includes any part-owner who isn’t on the tenancy agreement. One of you then registers the home itself and invites the others to be linked to it. Two names on the deeds of a terrace in Crossflatts means two landlord accounts and one property registration, so decide early which of you is doing it.

Landlords living overseas give their real overseas address on their landlord account. The property registration then needs a correspondence address in England or Wales (not a PO box), so have one lined up first.

While you’re at it: the ICO

The register doesn’t ask about this, but it’s worth checking at the same time. Most landlords who hold tenants’ details electronically need to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office and pay a yearly fee. If you’re not sure, the ICO’s online fee checker will tell you in a couple of minutes. And if you plan to do the registration yourself using tenancy details from us, we’ll need your ICO confirmation before we can send them.

Watch the 28 days

Once you’ve started registering a property, everything else has to be in within 28 days, or the registration can be deactivated. If the home is let, that could leave you in breach.

It doesn’t stop once you’re registered, either. Whenever something changes, like a new tenancy, a new rent or a new certificate, the record needs updating within 28 days.

Where your agent comes in

The government’s guidance for agents came out at the end of October. You still have to register yourself, start each property and pay the fee. After that, you can nominate your agent, who gets a link for each property and can add the tenancy details and upload the certificates for you.

You remain responsible for the record being complete and up to date, so agree with your agent, in writing, exactly what they’ll handle.

Managed landlords can hand this part to us. In Alex’s words:

“If landlords want our help to upload the information to the database, we’ll be happy to do so. That includes uploading all certificates, rent information and details of any licences. We’ll upload new certificates as they come in, and update the rent and tenant details during the year as anything changes.”

This sits outside our standard management, because it’s something you can do yourself. It costs £180 plus VAT for the first year and £90 plus VAT for each year after. You’d still need to start each registration and pay the £65 government fee.

Five things to do before spring

1. Find your gas safety record, EICR and EPC, check the dates, and scan them.

2. Note the rent, the number of people living there and any licence numbers for each home.

3. Set up your GOV.UK One Login.

4. Put 15 April 2027 in the diary, and 14 July in red.

5. Ask your agent, if you have one, what they’ll take on.

Alex’s tip if you look after your own lets:

“Make sure you have all your certificate dates logged, and make a note to start renewing them around four weeks before they’re due. If you haven’t already, keep all your information in one place where it’s easy to find, and make use of your diary!”

Book a free compliance check

If you’d rather someone else checked it over, our lettings manager Alex can help. She’s been in lettings for 13 years, she’s a Propertymark member, and she and the team are offering a free compliance check. We’ll go through everything you need to have in place as a landlord, including the changes from the Renters’ Rights Act and what you’ll need ready for the register. To book, call our Bingley office on 01274 567711 or email [email protected].

Sources: GOV.UK, Register your rental property: guidance for landlords and guidance for letting agents and property managers, checked 2 November 2026. Please treat this as general guidance rather than legal advice; details may change before the register opens in Yorkshire.