The National Residential Landlords Association has warned that England’s new private rented sector register could duplicate local licensing rather than help councils target poor standards, less than three months before the West Midlands rollout begins on 15 December.
In a fresh intervention published on 10 September, the association said the Register your rental property service appears to be launching as a stripped-back directory. It wants the system to draw on existing ownership and compliance data, so responsible landlords can demonstrate compliance while enforcement teams identify landlords who do not meet the rules.
The concern goes beyond an extra form. A landlord who already pays for a local licence could face repeated requests for much of the same information, while a register that cannot distinguish compliant homes from poor ones may add cost without making enforcement more effective.
NRLA calls for a compliance tool, not a directory
The register is part of phase two of the Renters’ Rights Act programme. The Government has set an annual fee of £65 for each property, with registration starting in the West Midlands on 15 December before moving across England on a regional timetable.
The NRLA said it had argued for a system that verifies compliance and ownership by making intelligent use of existing data, rather than simply asking landlords to upload documents. Its position is that this would give tenants and councils a clearer way to check standards, while allowing landlords who meet their obligations to evidence that work.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said the register needed to be more than a national directory if it was to improve standards. The association also said it remains unclear when information will be available to tenants and the public, with local authorities expected to receive it first and separate legislation needed for a public portal.
That gap is important for landlords preparing their records. The published rollout gives a three-month window to comply, but the shape of the eventual public-facing service and the practical relationship with local licensing remain unsettled.
Local licensing overlap remains unresolved
The Government’s announcement has already prompted debate about whether the national register will sit alongside council schemes or reduce the need for them. Landlord Knowledge has reported calls to expand the database with rent and eviction data, while a separate Propertymark warning on the administrative burden raised similar questions about how new reporting duties will work in practice.
The NRLA’s new argument is more specific: it says repeated collection of the same information would be hard to justify if the register is meant to support risk-based enforcement. The association wants Government to consider whether effective national checks should ultimately replace some local licensing activity, rather than duplicate it.
Landlord Knowledge’s July report on the NRLA’s earlier licensing warning set out the same structural issue before the rollout dates were known. The December start date now makes the question more immediate, particularly for landlords operating in areas where both a local licence and the new register could apply.
Landlords should not assume a local licence removes the need to register. The service will have its own legal requirements, and the NRLA’s comments are a call for changes to the system’s design, not a change to the December timetable. The association’s 10 September database statement also says landlords should expect further detail on privacy and access as the public portal is developed.
What this means for landlords
- If your properties are in the West Midlands: prepare ownership, safety and tenancy records for the 15 December start, even if a council licence is already in place.
- Watch for: Government guidance on agent access, local-licensing overlap and what information will eventually be visible through a public portal.
- Bottom line: the £65 register is proceeding, but the rules have not settled the question of duplicated compliance work.
Editor’s view
A national register should make it easier to find the landlords who ignore the rules, not make compliant operators enter the same evidence twice. The rollout date is fixed; the test is whether the data is useful enough to improve enforcement rather than create another annual cost.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 11 September 2026
Sources: National Residential Landlords Association
Related reading: Government sets £65 PRS register fee from 15 December
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