Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by PropertyWire. Read the original article for full details.
Landlord Database Upload Could Take Agents 714 Days, MPs Told
Large letting agencies managing 10,000 rental properties could require 714 working days to upload data onto the new national landlord register, according to calculations presented to MPs during a committee hearing on the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026. Shadow Housing Minister Gareth Bacon provided the figure during scrutiny of the regulations, based on an estimated 30 minutes per property and working seven hours daily.
A portfolio of 3,000 properties would take 214 days under the same calculation.
Data requirements and bulk upload concerns
Each property requires approximately 70 data points to be entered into the system, with the regulations currently making no provision for bulk uploading. The Government estimates 10 minutes per property, equating to 1,600 staff hours for a 10,000-home portfolio. However, Knight Frank, Hamptons and Chestertons estimate a minimum of 20 minutes per property, which would double the Government's projection.
Bacon told the committee the database design is "alien to any common sense" and has been built around landlords with small portfolios rather than portfolio landlords or managing agents. He stated that landlords must begin and end the upload process themselves, with agents only able to complete part of the work, contradicting the Government's original claim that agents could handle the entire process on behalf of landlords.
Industry response and implementation timeline
The National Residential Landlords Association reportedly considers the regulations "a costly mess", with Bacon stating that industry representatives believed the Government had heard their concerns but later discovered they "had been totally ignored". The industry is "broadly in agreement" that greater transparency would be beneficial if the database is designed and managed properly.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook responded to the criticisms before the committee voted the instrument through by 11 votes to six. The new service will be known as Register your Rental Property, with an annual registration fee of £65 per property requiring renewal each year. Landlords and agents must comply with the requirements by 14 December 2027. A second statutory instrument is still to come.
The implementation comes as the rental sector faces additional regulatory changes, including upcoming tax adjustments affecting landlord profitability. The database aims to increase transparency in the private rental sector, though concerns remain about the administrative burden on larger agencies and portfolio landlords managing significant property numbers.
Source: PropertyWire