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Landlord register

England’s landlord register fee and penalties: what is confirmed and what is not

Searches for the landlord register fee and the penalty for not registering mix official figures with guesses. Here is every money fact we could find, whether it comes from GOV.UK, the Renters’ Rights Act or the draft Regulations, and what nobody has published.

Independent guide, not governmentReviewed by Liam Humphreys on Last updated Last checked 12 sources13 min readHow this guide was made, including our use of AI

Contents

Status at 4 November 2026: fee in guidance, penalties in the Act, Regulations still draft

The £65 fee appears in GOV.UK guidance, which on 29 October 2026 added the pro-rating formula and two worked examples, but not in the draft Regulations, which leave the amount to the database operator. The £7,000 and £40,000 limits are in the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, but the sections that set them are not yet in force as duties (see “Status of the sections”). The Regulations are shown on legislation.gov.uk as a draft that has not been made as a statutory instrument, and we could not confirm Parliament has approved them.

The short version

  • Fee: £65 a year for each property, according to GOV.UK, with no VAT and no charge for your landlord registration or for updates. During the rollout the first year is pro-rated: GOV.UK’s example is £5.34 for a property registered on 15 December 2026. The amount is not in the law: the draft Regulations say the database operator sets the fee by reference to its costs, and the government’s explanatory memorandum says leaving it out lets it change, for example for inflation.
  • Maximum penalty: under the Act, once it is in force, a council can impose a financial penalty of up to £7,000 for marketing a home without active entries, for leaving the identifiers out of a written advert, or, as landlord, for not having active, up-to-date entries. Up to £40,000 applies to the offences in section 92.
  • Possession: the Act adds a rule to section 7 of the Housing Act 1988. While the landlord is in breach of the duty to have active entries, a court may not make a possession order, except where ground 7A or ground 14 applies. We could not confirm that this rule is in force yet.
  • Tax: GOV.UK’s landlord guidance says the fee is tax-deductible and points you to HMRC guidance.
  • Not published: the reactivation fee, any scale or guidance on penalty amounts, and how councils will use their powers in practice.
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The fee

What is known about the landlord register fee, and where it comes from
QuestionWhat the sources saySource
How much?An annual £65 fee per property.Housing Hub, GOV.UK
Per what?Per property. The page says “The fee is for one property”, so each property registered is paid for separately. The Regulations require a fee to make a dwelling entry, not a landlord entry.Housing Hub; regulation 6(5); explanatory memorandum, paragraph 5.10
Who sets it?The database operator, by reference to “relevant costs”: setting up and running the database, enforcement of the database rules, its other functions under the Act and some other private rented sector enforcement.Regulation 14; Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 81(4)
Can it change?Yes. The memorandum says the Regulations do not set the fee so that it can change, for example for inflation.Explanatory memorandum, paragraph 5.10
Pro-ratingDuring the rollout the fee is pro-rated, “so that those signing up first don’t have to pay more”. GOV.UK’s landlord guidance (29 October 2026) gives the formula: (£65 divided by the days in the year, 365 or 366) multiplied by (the days until your renewal date, minus the free days), where free days are any days before 15 November 2027, the date from which all landlords must be registered. Amounts are rounded down. Its examples: £5.34 if you register on 15 December 2026 (renewal 15 December 2027, 365 days, 335 free days) and £39.60 on 25 June 2027 (366 days, 143 free days). The draft Regulations say nothing on it.Housing Hub; GOV.UK guidance for landlords
VAT and what is freeThe fee is not subject to VAT. You are not charged for your landlord registration or for updates to your landlord or property records. You pay when you register each property and then every year.GOV.UK guidance for landlords
RenewalEvery 12 months. An entry becomes inactive the day after the renewal date unless renewed, and a fee must be paid to renew a dwelling entry.Regulation 10(1) to (3)
Several propertiesA second or later dwelling entry takes the renewal date of your existing active entries, so a portfolio renews together. GOV.UK’s guidance puts it as one year from when you registered your first property.Regulation 10(4); GOV.UK guidance for landlords
Reactivating a lapsed entryA fee is payable if you reactivate after the previous renewal date, or if the shared renewal date means the new renewal date falls after it. The Act allows the fee to be higher than the normal one. No amount has been published.Regulation 12(5); Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 81(5)
When is it paid?Before the dwelling entry can be made: the person making the entry must have paid it. Payment methods have not been published.Regulation 6(5)
Is it tax-deductible?GOV.UK’s landlord guidance says “The service fee is tax-deductible, you should review the relevant HMRC guidance when you submit your tax return”. The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) page on working out rental income lists allowable expenses and says they must be “wholly and exclusively” for renting out the property. It does not mention the register fee, so read it too.GOV.UK guidance for landlords; HMRC guidance

Housing Hub also says that fees will support activity to identify and act on non-compliance, including funding to help councils have the staff and skills they need. Do not rely on any figure other than £65 a year until the operator publishes its charges, and do not assume the second year costs the same: the pro-rated first-year amount is lower, and the Regulations let the operator change the fee, for example for inflation.

The penalties

The duty is in section 82 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. In summary:

  • You must not market a home for a new residential tenancy unless there is an active landlord entry for the person who will be the landlord and an active dwelling entry for the home.
  • Any written advertisement must include the unique identifiers the operator allocates to the landlord and the home (section 82(2)). Housing Hub says that landlord and property identifiers must appear on adverts “under future legislation”, and that it will provide further guidance before then.
  • A residential landlord must ensure there are active entries and that any update requirements are met.
  • A breach does not make the tenancy invalid.

Councils (local housing authorities) enforce this. Section 91 sets the amounts. GOV.UK’s landlord guidance repeats the two limits: “penalties of up to £7,000 for failing to register yourself and your property”, and up to £40,000 for knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information, or for continuing or repeated breaches of certain requirements.

Rent repayment orders. GOV.UK’s guidance says that from 15 December 2026 tenants will be able to apply for a rent repayment order where a landlord has knowingly or recklessly given the service false or misleading information, or has committed continuing or repeated breaches of certain requirements relating to it, but only once the registration period for the area of their property has opened. Section 98 of the Act adds the section 92(1) and 92(2) offences to the list of offences for which a tribunal can make such an order. The guidance says applications are decided by the First-tier Tribunal. On our reading, simply not having registered, with none of those further breaches, is not on that list.

Penalties for breaking the register rules
What you didConsequenceMaximumWhere
Marketed a home without active entries, left out the identifiers from a written advert, or, as the landlord, did not keep active, up-to-date entriesFinancial penalty from the council£7,000Act, sections 82 and 91(2)(a)
Knowingly or recklessly gave the operator information that is false or misleading in a material respect, in purported compliance with a requirement of the RegulationsOffence: penalty or fine on conviction£40,000 for a penaltyAct, sections 92(1) and 91(2)(b)
Carried on with the conduct that earned a penalty for more than 28 days after the penalty (or after an appeal ends)Offence£40,000 for a penaltyAct, sections 92(2) and 91(2)(b)
Within five years of a penalty for a breach of the marketing, advertising or landlord duty, engaged in conduct that is a different breach of those dutiesOffence£40,000 for a penaltyAct, sections 92(3) and 91(2)(b)
Within five years of a penalty or conviction for a section 92 offence, breached the marketing, advertising or landlord dutyOffence£40,000 for a penaltyAct, sections 92(4) and 91(2)(b)

How the system works:

  • A council must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt before it imposes a penalty (section 91(1)).
  • It can impose more than one penalty for the same conduct only if the conduct continues after 28 days from the day after the earlier penalty was imposed, or from when an appeal is finally decided (section 91(3)).
  • It cannot penalise conduct for which you have been convicted or have criminal proceedings pending (section 91(5)).
  • On summary conviction of a section 92 offence the court imposes a fine. Section 92 does not give a figure.
  • If a company commits the offence with an officer’s consent, connivance or neglect, the officer commits it too (section 92(8)).
  • The Secretary of State may change the £7,000 and £40,000 limits by regulations to reflect changes in the value of money (section 91(8)).

Status of the sections

On legislation.gov.uk, sections 82, 90 and 91 are marked “in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes”. Section 145(2) of the Act says the Act came into force for the purposes of making regulations on the day it was passed, so that marking covers the regulation-making powers, not the duties and penalties themselves. Section 92 is marked as prospective, meaning not in force at Royal Assent. The explanatory memorandum (paragraph 5.3) says that a separate statutory instrument, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026, will bring the database provisions into force. On 27 October and again on 3 November 2026 legislation.gov.uk listed only Commencement Regulations Nos. 1 to 3 for the Act. None of them commences sections 75 to 96, and No. 2 commences the general financial penalty provisions “except so far as they relate to” section 91. So the table shows the limits the Act sets. It is not a statement that any penalty applies from 15 December 2026.

The possession order bar

Section 90 of the Act inserts a new subsection (5ZC) into section 7 of the Housing Act 1988. It says the court may not make an order for possession of a dwelling-house while the landlord (or, for joint landlords, any of them) is in breach of the duty in section 82(3)(a) to have active landlord and dwelling entries, unless the ground for possession is ground 7A or ground 14. Section 90 is marked as in force only for specified purposes, and we have not found a commencement regulation for it, so we cannot say the bar applies yet. GOV.UK’s guidance for third parties says that “From Winter 2027” a property and its landlord must be registered before a court can issue a possession order, and that it will give further guidance before that restriction comes into force.

The GOV.UK guide to the Act lists ground 7A as “Severe ASB/Criminal Behaviour” (ASB is anti-social behaviour) and ground 14 as “Anti-social behaviour”. It says that landlords in breach of the duty to register “will not be able to get a possession order except if the ground under which possession is sought is ground 7A or ground 14”. Check the current wording of both grounds on legislation.gov.uk before relying on either.

When can a council act?

Housing Hub says that after a region’s deadline passes, “councils in this region will be able to initiate enforcement activity”. GOV.UK’s news story of 9 September 2026 says registration “will be a legal requirement and risks a fine if not completed”, and Housing Hub says “you risk being fined”, but neither gives an amount. The regional dates are in our deadlines guide.

What we could not find is the date from which the marketing restriction applies to a home in each region, or any council guidance on how heavy penalties will be. Section 91 lets the Secretary of State issue guidance, and councils must have regard to it, but we found none published.

The other charge coming: the ombudsman

The private rented sector (PRS) Landlord Ombudsman is a separate scheme from the register. GOV.UK’s roadmap says landlords will pay for it through a charging model that is “fair and proportionate”, to be confirmed closer to launch. The GOV.UK guide to the Act says a “small annual fee per PRS property” is expected. Neither gives an amount. The government expects membership to become mandatory in 2028. See our timeline.

Frequently asked questions

Is the fee £65 for each landlord or for each property?

For each property, according to Housing Hub: “an annual £65 registration fee per property”. The Regulations require a fee to make a dwelling entry. We found no rule charging per tenant or per room, and no statement on how a house in multiple occupation is counted, beyond the entry asking for the number of households and any licence number.

What is the penalty for not registering?

Under sections 82 and 91 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, a council will be able to impose a financial penalty of up to £7,000 for breaching the duty to have active entries or the marketing rules, once those sections are in force. Repeated or continuing breaches and false or misleading information can lead to offences under section 92, with a penalty of up to £40,000 or a fine on conviction.

Can I be fined before my region’s deadline?

Housing Hub says councils will be able to initiate enforcement activity after a region’s deadline has passed. We found nothing that says they will act before then, although GOV.UK says tenants’ rent repayment order applications for false information or continuing breaches open with each region’s period. The date from which each part of the duty applies to a home depends on commencement we could not confirm, so check GOV.UK for your region.

Can I deduct the £65 from my rental income?

GOV.UK’s guidance for landlords says the service fee is tax-deductible and tells you to review the relevant HMRC guidance when you submit your tax return. HMRC’s own page on working out rental income says expenses are deductible if they are wholly and exclusively for renting out the property, and it does not name the register fee. Keep the receipt and ask your accountant if your tax position is unusual.

How much will I pay if I register on 15 December 2026?

GOV.UK’s worked example says £5.34 for one property registered that day, because the first year is pro-rated to disregard the days before 15 November 2027. The later you register, the fewer free days there are and the more you pay: GOV.UK’s second example is £39.60 for 25 June 2027. On our reading of the formula the full £65 applies only where there are no free days, that is from 15 November 2027. Renewal is then £65 a year, unless the operator changes the fee.

What if my entry lapses?

An entry becomes inactive the day after its renewal date if you have not renewed it. You can reactivate it, but a fee is payable if that is after the previous renewal date, the amount has not been published, and while it is inactive you are not complying with the duty.

Sources

Last checked 4 November 2026.

Changes to this guide

  • 3 November 2026: Re-checked against GOV.UK’s new guidance (published 29 October 2026). The fee section now has the pro-rating formula and the two worked examples (£5.34 and £39.60), the no-VAT and no-charge-for-updates statements, and GOV.UK’s statement that the fee is tax-deductible (we had said we found none). Added rent repayment orders and the possession restriction date GOV.UK gives. The £65, £7,000 and £40,000 figures are unchanged, and the Regulations and the Act’s sections are still not in force as far as we can find.
  • 27 October 2026: Published.

This guide is general information written from the official sources listed above and checked on 4 November 2026. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and Plainfiles is not endorsed by any government body. Rules change, so check the linked official pages for your own situation. Written and designed by Plainfiles with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, then checked against the official legislation and guidance listed in the sources. How we write and check our guides.