How to Register on the New Landlord Property Portal: A Practical Walkthrough

The Property Portal Is Here — Time to Register

The Property Portal is one of the most significant practical changes introduced by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. It is a centralised digital database where every private landlord in England must register themselves and their rental properties — and the registration window is now open.

If you have been following the build-up, you already know the portal is coming. This guide is about the practical mechanics: what you need to have ready, how the registration process works step by step, and what your ongoing obligations look like once you are registered.

1 May 2026

The compliance deadline is approaching. If you let residential property in England under an assured tenancy, you must be registered on the Property Portal by this date. There is no grace period, and the consequences of missing it are real.

What You Will Need Before You Start

The single best thing you can do is gather everything before you sit down to register. Trying to locate certificate numbers and membership details mid-way through the process is a reliable way to turn a 20-minute task into a frustrating afternoon. Here is what you will need.

Personal and Contact Details

• Your full legal name (or company name, if you let through a limited company)
• Your correspondence address
• A valid email address — this becomes your primary contact for portal notifications
• A telephone number

Property Information

For each property you let, you will need:

• The full address, including postcode
• The property type (house, flat, HMO, etc.)
• The number of bedrooms
• Current tenancy status and number of occupants

Compliance Certificates

This is where most landlords need to spend time preparing. For each property, have digital copies and reference numbers ready for:

• Gas safety certificate — the certificate number, date of issue, and expiry date
• Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — the report reference number and outcome (satisfactory or unsatisfactory)
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) — the RRN (Report Reference Number) from the EPC register, along with the current rating

PRS Ombudsman Membership

You must be a member of the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman before you register on the portal. Your ombudsman membership number is a required field — the portal will not let you complete registration without it.

Step-by-Step Registration Walkthrough

The portal has been designed to be straightforward, and for a landlord with one or two properties, the process should take between 20 and 30 minutes — assuming you have your documents ready.

Step 1: Create Your Landlord Account

Visit the Property Portal website and select "Register as a landlord." You will need to verify your identity — the portal uses the GOV.UK One Login system, so if you have used any government digital service recently, you may already have an account. If not, you will create one using your email address and a form of photo identification.

Once your identity is verified, you will be asked to enter your personal details: name, correspondence address, contact information, and your PRS Ombudsman membership number.

Step 2: Add Your Rental Property

After your landlord profile is set up, you add each property individually. Enter the full address and the portal will cross-reference it against the Land Registry and EPC register. You will then confirm the property type, number of bedrooms, and current tenancy status.

If you let more than one property, you repeat this step for each one. The portal saves your progress, so you do not need to complete everything in a single session.

Step 3: Enter Your Compliance Details

For each property, you will be asked to provide details of your current compliance certificates. In most cases, this means entering certificate reference numbers and dates rather than uploading full documents — the portal cross-references several national databases automatically.

For your gas safety certificate and EICR, you will enter the certificate or report number, the date of issue, and the expiry date. For your EPC, the portal can pull the details directly from the EPC register using your property address, though you should verify the information it retrieves is correct.

The portal is designed to verify your compliance, not to create unnecessary paperwork. In most cases, entering reference numbers is enough — the system checks the rest.

Step 4: Review and Submit

Before submission, the portal presents a summary of everything you have entered. Check this carefully. Incorrect information — even honest mistakes — can cause problems later, particularly if you need to rely on your registration being in good standing for possession proceedings.

Once you are satisfied, submit your registration. You will receive a confirmation email with your unique portal registration number. Keep this safe.

What Happens After Registration

Registration is not a one-off task. The portal is a living record of your compliance, and you have ongoing obligations to keep it current.

Annual Renewal

Your portal registration must be renewed annually. The portal will send you reminders before your renewal date, but it is your responsibility to ensure renewal happens on time. A lapsed registration has the same legal consequences as never having registered at all.

Updating Your Records

You must update the portal whenever:

• A compliance certificate is renewed (new gas safety certificate, new EICR, new EPC)
• A certificate expires and has not yet been renewed
• A tenancy ends or a new tenancy begins
• Your personal or contact details change
• Your ombudsman membership details change

The expectation is that you update the portal within a reasonable period — the government guidance suggests within 28 days of any change. The portal will also flag upcoming certificate expiry dates to help you stay ahead.

Penalties for Not Registering

The government has been clear that the Property Portal is not optional, and the penalties for non-compliance reflect that.

Civil Penalties

Local authorities in England can issue civil penalties to landlords who fail to register, fail to keep their records up to date, or provide false or misleading information. The penalty levels are set through secondary legislation, but they follow the same framework used for other housing offences — meaning fines of up to £7,000 for a first offence and up to £40,000 for repeat or serious breaches.

Impact on Possession Proceedings

This is the penalty that should concern landlords most. If your portal registration is not up to date, you may be unable to serve a valid Section 8 notice. The court can refuse to process your possession claim if your registration has lapsed or your compliance records are incomplete. In practical terms, this means that a landlord who neglects the portal could find themselves unable to regain possession of their property — even on grounds that would otherwise be straightforward.

Local Authority Enforcement

The portal gives local councils direct visibility of every registered landlord and property in their area. Councils can identify landlords who are not registered, whose certificates have expired, or whose records are incomplete — and they can take enforcement action without waiting for a tenant complaint.

Practical Tips for a Smooth Registration

• Gather everything first. Have your gas safety certificate, EICR, EPC details, and ombudsman membership number in front of you before you start. Digital copies are ideal.
• Allow 20 to 30 minutes per property. One property is straightforward. Two properties might take closer to 45 minutes. Do not rush it.
• Use GOV.UK One Login. If you already have a GOV.UK account, use the same login. This avoids duplicate identity verification.
• Save your confirmation email. Your portal registration number is important. File the confirmation email somewhere you can find it.
• Set calendar reminders. Add reminders for your annual portal renewal and for each certificate expiry date. The portal will send notifications, but your own reminders are a sensible backup.
• Do not wait until the deadline. The portal is open now. Registering early avoids the rush, and if you hit any issues, you have time to resolve them before the compliance date.

Do Not Leave This to the Last Minute

The Property Portal is a permanent feature of the private rented sector in England. It is not a one-off registration that you do and forget — it is an ongoing compliance obligation that sits alongside your existing duties as a landlord.

The good news is that for landlords who already keep their certificates current and their records organised, the portal adds very little extra work. It is simply a digital reflection of what you are already doing. The key is to approach it methodically: gather your documents, complete the registration carefully, and build updates into your routine.

If you have not already, work through our Renters' Rights Act compliance checklist to make sure you are covering every requirement — the portal is just one piece of a broader set of obligations that took effect under the 2025 Act.

Further Reading

• The Property Portal and Landlord Registration Explained
• PRS Ombudsman: Membership Requirements for Landlords
• Renters' Rights Act Compliance Checklist for Landlords