News
Update - Renters’ Rights Act – Phase 2, Landlord database
Following the ongoing monitoring and review of the database, I have gathered the essential information (currently available) to help keep you informed of the landlord and property registration requirements.
This blog outlines the registration process, the information you will be required to provide, the associated costs, who will have access to the information submitted, and the additional features currently available.
Landlord Registration Process
Before providing any information relating to your properties, the first step is to complete the landlord registration process.
The registration requirements will vary depending on whether the properties are owned in your personal name, a trust or through a company.
Properties Owned in Your Personal Name
If you own the properties in your own name, you will be required to provide the following information:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Home address
- Contact details
Properties Owned Through a Company
If the properties are registered in a company’s name, you will be required to provide the following information:
- Details of the person making the entry
- Companies House registration number
- A nominated contact
(Crucial information: If for any reason a Companies House registration number is not provided, you must submit the names, dates of birth, and addresses of all directors, partners, or members of the company’s governing body.)
Properties Owned Through a Trust
If the properties are registered in a Trust, you will be required to provide the following information:
- The name of the tust
- The name, date of birth, and address of the lead trustee
- The email address and telephone number of the lead trustee
- Certified evidence of authority if registering in a representative capacity
Once the required information has been provided and the registration has been completed, you will receive a landlord registration number. This number will serve as a verified legal identifier.
The government will use these registration numbers for a number of enforcement, legal, and operational purposes, including mandatory marketing and property advertising requirements, establishing eligibility to use certain possession grounds, improving tenant transparency, and supporting local authority enforcement.
Jointly Owned Properties – Registration Fees
Popular question asked: If the property is jointly owned, are multiple fees of £65.00 required?
The answer is - No.
Each landlord must complete a separate landlord registration, which is free of charge. However, the landlords associated with a jointly owned property will share a single dwelling entry. Therefore, only one £65.00 property registration fee will be payable for each jointly owned property.
Property Registration
- Property postcode
- House number
- Type of property
- Type of ownership
- Licensing information, including the licence number where applicable
- Who lives at the property
- Number of households at the property
- Number of residents e.g everyone who permanently resides at the property, including children and babies
- Number of bedrooms
- Rent amount, including confirmation of whether bills are included
- Whether the property is furnished or unfurnished
- Frequency of rent payments
- All required safety documentation must be uploaded. This includes the Gas Safety Certificate and EICR. The EPC will be retrieved automatically from the government register, and you will only need to confirm that the information displayed is correct
- Name and address of the freeholder, any other superior landlord, or the property manager/letting agent
Once all this information has been submitted, you will be provided with a property registration number via your email. Please note that this information MUST be updated throughout the year if anything changes, once the change occurs you have 28 days to update this registration. As we all know, this registration will cost £65.00 per property and you will be required to renew the registration every year, with this another £65.00 is required. Please note that there won't be any discounts for landlords with a larger portfolio.
Letting agents abilities
Unfortunately, letting agents will not be able to take over the registration process entirely on your behalf.
You will remain responsible for starting and completing the registration process. However, you will be able to agree with us which information you would like us to provide on your behalf.
This is the extent of the information currently available regarding letting agents' involvement, with further clarification expected to be provided in due course.
This is one of the key questions that many landlords and agents have been waiting to have clarified.
Based on the information currently available:
- Tenants will be able to see whether their landlord or prospective landlord has registered.
- It is expected that tenants will eventually be able to view whether the landlord is compliant with the relevant legal requirements and documentation.
Unfortunately, this is currently the extent of the publicly available information regarding what tenants will be able to see. Further details are expected to be released in due course. Please note due to GDPR, certain information will be kept private.
Local councils, however, will have access to a separate service through which they will be able to review the information entered by landlords.
I hope the above provides a useful overview of the current registration requirements and what landlords can expect from the process.
As further information becomes available, particularly regarding the role of letting agents and the information that will be visible to tenants and the public, we will provide further updates.
Additional reads:
View Blog
