PRS Database vs Selective Licensing 2026: Do You Need Both?

If you let a property in a selective licensing area, you are about to have two registrations to keep: the licence from your council, and a new national register of landlords. They sound alike and ask for much of the same paperwork, but they are separate duties with separate fees and separate fines. This guide shows how they differ and what to do before your region’s deadline.

The national register is the Private Rented Sector Database ("PRS Database"), introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Selective licensing schemes have been running under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 for two decades and are still running today. On the face of it they overlap: both require you to register a rental property with a public body, both carry civil penalties for non-compliance, and both apply to broadly the same landlords.

They are not the same thing. And in most areas of England, if selective licensing already applies to your property, you will need both.

Below, in order: what each regime is, where the difference lies, when the PRS Database starts taking landlord registrations, what happens to your existing selective licence when it does, and the practical steps for a landlord in a licensed borough now.

Not legal advice. Selective licensing rules are set by each local authority and change often. The Government published the PRS Database dates, fee and information list in September 2026, and GOV.UK guidance on using the service is still to follow. Check your council’s current scheme and GOV.UK guidance before you act.

The short answer

• Selective licensing is a local scheme run by your council under the Housing Act 2004. It applies only in designated areas (usually a single ward, sometimes a whole borough). Fees are set by each council and vary widely: check yours in the landlord licence fees hub or on the council’s own page.
• The PRS Database is a national register established by Part 2, Chapter 3 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. It applies to landlords of assured or regulated tenancies everywhere in England, not just designated areas.
• The PRS Database does not repeal selective licensing. The Housing Act 2004 licensing powers stay on the statute book.
• Therefore, if your let property is in a selective licensing area when registration is required in your region, you will need to hold both: the local licence and a national database registration.
• When does the PRS Database go live? The Government runs it as the "Register your rental property" service. It opens on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands and rolls out region by region, with each region getting a 3-month window to register. The first deadline is 14 March 2027 (West Midlands) and the last is 14 November 2027 (South West). The fee is £65 a year per property.

From £7.99 a month, LetCompliance keeps both on the property record: the licence with reminders 90, 30 and 7 days before it expires, and the details the PRS Database asks for, gathered from your records with a readiness score for each property. Registration itself is done on the Government’s service. Get started

What selective licensing is (recap)

Under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, a local authority can designate an area where every private rented property must be licensed, however many tenants, rooms or storeys it has. Councils use this power in areas with high private-rented density, low housing demand, anti-social behaviour, poor property conditions or migration issues.

Key features:

• Application is per property, not per landlord. A landlord with three properties in a designated area needs three licences.
• Fee varies by council: see the landlord licence fees hub for the figures councils publish. Some councils offer an early-bird discount or a reduced fee for accredited landlords.
• The application asks for identifying information on the landlord, the managing agent (if any), the property address, the number of tenants and rooms, plus a copy of the current gas safety certificate, EICR and EPC.
• The licence attaches conditions: mandatory conditions (gas safety, electrical safety, furniture regulations, references from proposed tenants, written tenancy terms) plus discretionary conditions set by the council (regular property inspections, ASB reporting, occupancy limits).
• Non-compliance is a criminal offence under s.95 of the 2004 Act, with an unlimited fine on prosecution or a civil penalty up to £40,000 under s.249A for offences from 1 May 2026, plus Rent Repayment Orders covering up to two years of rent.

Schemes range from a few wards to a whole borough, and they start and end often. Newham, Waltham Forest and Nottingham run selective licensing, as do designated wards in Liverpool; check your own council’s page for the current position.

What the PRS Database is (once it opens)

Part 2, Chapter 3 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 creates a new database of residential landlords and privately rented dwellings in England. The Government is delivering it as the "Register your rental property" service, which you use online with a GOV.UK One Login; offline routes will be available for landlords who need them.

Key features, from the Act and the Government’s published guidance:

• Registration is per landlord and per dwelling: you register yourself and each of your properties.
• Let properties first. For now you only have to register properties that are let, or become let during the rollout. Under future legislation, unoccupied properties will have to be registered before they are marketed, and adverts will have to show the landlord and property identifiers. Section 82 of the Act sets out the registration, marketing and advertising requirements.
• The database will hold: your name, date of birth, contact details and address; for each property, its address, ownership and dwelling type, bedrooms, occupants and households, rent, licensing, and copies of the gas safety record, EICR and (where one had to be given to the tenant) the EPC. Councils will use it for enforcement, and in future tenants will be able to use it to see whether a landlord is compliant with key legal requirements. The list of what the public can see will be published later.
• Fee is £65 a year per property, renewed each year and pro-rated during the rollout so that those signing up first do not pay more.
• Non-registration can lead to a financial penalty of up to £7,000 for breaching the section 82 requirements, or up to £40,000 where the landlord has committed an offence under section 92 (section 91 of the Act). While a landlord is in breach of the duty to be registered, a court may not make a possession order except on Ground 7A or Ground 14 (section 90).

Where the two overlap

Both regimes ask a landlord to identify themselves, identify the property, and evidence compliance with core safety duties. If you already hold a selective licence, your council already holds:

• Your name, contact and correspondence address
• The property address
• Your Gas Safety certificate, EICR and EPC
• Details of any managing agent
• Sometimes: a floor plan or room count

Once registration is required in your region, much of that information will duplicate what you upload nationally. The national service also asks whether the property needs a selective, additional or HMO licence and for the licence number, so expect to enter the core details twice: once for your council and once on the Government’s service.

Where the two differ

Even where the data overlaps, the regimes are legally distinct.

Scope

• Selective licensing applies only in designated areas.
• The PRS Database applies everywhere in England.

Legal basis

• Selective licensing sits under Housing Act 2004 Part 3.
• The PRS Database sits under Renters’ Rights Act 2025, Part 2 Chapter 3.

Purpose

• Selective licensing is a conditions-based regulatory regime: the council attaches licence conditions and can revoke a licence for breach.
• The PRS Database is a registration duty: it does not attach conditions in the licensing sense. Councils will use it as an enforcement tool, and in future tenants will be able to use it to check whether a landlord is compliant with key legal requirements.

Enforcement

• Selective licensing: council enforcement, criminal offence + civil penalty up to £40,000 (offences from 1 May 2026) + RRO.
• PRS Database: council enforcement once your region’s deadline has passed, a financial penalty of up to £7,000 (s.91), up to £40,000 where an offence under s.92 has been committed, and no possession order while you are in breach, except on Ground 7A or 14 (s.90).

Fees

• Selective: set by each council (see the landlord licence fees hub).
• PRS Database: £65 per property per year, pro-rated during the rollout.

Renewal

• Selective licence: 5-year term, then re-apply.
• PRS Database: annual; you renew the registration each year.

Do I need both?

In most cases, yes: if your let property needs a selective licence, it also needs registering on the PRS Database by your region’s deadline.

The Government’s published information list for the register asks whether the property needs an HMO, additional or selective licence, and for the licence numbers. The register records your licence; it does not replace it.

There are three specific cases worth spelling out.

Case 1: Property in a selective licensing area today.

You must maintain your selective licence (obtain, renew, comply with conditions) as normal. Once registration is required in your region, you must also register the property nationally before your region’s deadline. Two fees, two renewal calendars, two records to keep.

Case 2: Property outside any licensing scheme today.

You are not currently required to hold a licence. If the property is let, you will still need to register it nationally by your region’s deadline. One fee (£65 a year per property), one renewal calendar. If your council later designates a scheme covering your area, you will fall into Case 1.

Case 3: Property in a mandatory HMO or additional HMO licensing area.

Mandatory HMO licensing (5+ occupants forming 2+ households) and additional HMO licensing are separate from selective licensing and are not repealed by the PRS Database either. If your property is a licensable HMO, you continue to need the HMO licence and the national Database entry.

Practical steps for a landlord in September 2026

1. 1Check whether selective licensing applies to your property now. Your council’s website or the property licence check on GOV.UK is the first stop. If it does, and you don’t hold a licence, applying is more urgent than any PRS Database work: non-compliance is a criminal offence today, not from 15 December 2026.
2. 2Renew your existing licence on schedule. Do not wait for the Database in the hope that dual registration will be simplified. Councils have not indicated any freeze on selective licensing renewals.
3. 3Keep a central record of everything: gas safety records, EICRs, EPCs, licence numbers, rent and occupancy for each property, in a format you can re-enter quickly. When registration is required in your region, the same core data goes onto the Government’s service.
4. 4Note your region’s dates. Registration becomes a legal requirement region by region, from 15 December 2026 (West Midlands) to 15 August 2027 (South West), and you then have 3 months to register: the last deadline is 14 November 2027. The deadline depends on where the property is, not where you live, and you can register early from 15 December 2026.
5. 5Budget for both fees. For a landlord with, say, three properties in Newham, existing licensing costs are already meaningful. Add £195 a year in Database fees on top (£65 per property, pro-rated during the rollout).

If you keep your lettings records in software, this is exactly the kind of dual regime it should track for you: the local licence expiry and the national registration expiry on one calendar, and the documents for both in one place.

What LetCompliance is doing

LetCompliance tracks selective, additional and HMO licences today. The licence number, expiry date, fee, conditions and evidence documents sit with the property, and a lapsed licence shows up in that property’s 0 to 100 compliance score.

For the PRS Database, LetCompliance already keeps most of what the register asks for, because it runs the whole let: property details, tenancies, rent, and your gas safety, EICR and EPC records. The PRS Database page in your account shows which properties are ready and which have gaps. Registration itself happens on the Government’s service with your GOV.UK One Login. LetCompliance does not register for you, but the answers are in one place when you do, next to the certificate dates and their reminders (email, plus SMS on paid plans). Plans start at £7.99 a month, with a 3-day trial and no card.

Until then, the honest position is: hold your selective licence, keep your paperwork tight, and register nationally before your region’s deadline.

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 91 (PRS Database penalties)
• GOV.UK Housing Hub: Get ready: ‘Register your rental property’ service
• GOV.UK: Stronger protections and greater confidence for renters (9 September 2026)
• legislation.gov.uk: Housing Act 2004, Part 3 (selective licensing)
• GOV.UK: Selective licensing: guidance for local authorities
• GOV.UK: Renters’ Rights Act 2025
• MHCLG: Renters’ Rights Act 2025: Explanatory Notes