Guides · Last checked 27 Oct 2026 · England

PRS landlord register in the West Midlands: what to do before 14 March 2027

The PRS landlord register is planned to open on 15 December 2026, and the West Midlands goes first: every private landlord with a let property in the region must register themselves and each property by 14 March 2027. The landlord entry is free, each property costs £65 a year, and letting without an active entry after the deadline risks a civil penalty of up to £7,000.

The planned dates

Each later region opens a month after the one before, with three months to register. The last, the South West, has until 14 November 2027. If you let in more than one region, you can register all your properties together from 15 December 2026, as long as each is in before its own region's deadline.

These dates come from the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026. Treat them as planned until GOV.UK confirms them.

Which properties count

The timetable follows the property, not where you live. A landlord in London with a flat in Wolverhampton registers that flat in the West Midlands window.

The West Midlands region covers Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, plus Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. If you're not sure, the free postcode checker on the Certkept home page shows the dates for any address.

What it costs

• Your landlord entry: free.
• Each let property: £65 a year, planned.
• Budget for every let address, not one fee per landlord.

What happens if you miss 14 March 2027

Penalties are issued by the local council, and only once the region's window has closed. Letting without an active entry after that risks a civil penalty of up to £7,000. Continuing breaches and false information carry up to £40,000. A landlord in breach also loses most Section 8 possession grounds.

What to have ready

The register asks for your details, the property's details and three documents. Get these in date before you start:

• Gas safety record, if the property has gas: every 12 months, by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in.
• EICR: at least every 5 years, or sooner if the report says so. Copy to tenants within 28 days.
• EPC: valid for 10 years, and band E or above to let unless an exemption is registered.
• HMO or selective licence numbers, where they apply.

If a certificate will run out before or during the window, renew it first. Registering with a certificate that's about to lapse means updating the entry again within 28 days.

Once you start, finish within 28 days

You can start a property entry before every detail is to hand, but the rest has to be added within 28 days or the entry goes inactive. After that, any change, such as a new gas record, EICR or EPC, has to be updated within 28 days, and the whole registration renews every 12 months.

A sequence that works

1. Check each property's postcode to confirm it's in the West Midlands window.
2. List every let property with the date of its last gas check, EICR and EPC.
3. Book anything that expires before 14 March 2027.
4. Gather your details and the documents in our guide to what you need to register.
5. Register on the government's Register Your Rental Property service, and finish each property entry within 28 days.
6. Put the 12-month renewal in your calendar the day you register.

Certkept doesn't register you or connect to the government service. It tracks every certificate and due date for each property and builds a register pack with your details in the order the register asks for them. It's free for one property.