The PRS database in the South East: dates, deadline and licensing
Registration on the PRS database opens in the South East on 15 March 2027, and every rented property in the region needs an entry by 14 June 2027. It is the fourth of nine regions to open.
On this page
- When do you have to register in the South East?
- Which councils are in the South East region?
- Which South East councils run selective or additional licensing?
- Do any South East licensing schemes start or end during the registration window?
- Which South East designations start before registration opens?
- What have South East councils said about the database and the Act?
- What should letting agents in the South East do before 15 March?
- Where can you read each council’s licensing rules?
- How much does registration cost, and what do you need to provide?
- What’s changed
- Frequently asked questions
When do you have to register in the South East?
Landlords in the South East must register each rented property between 15 March 2027 and 14 June 2027. The deadline depends on where the property is, not where the landlord or agent is based. A portfolio that spans more than one region has more than one deadline, set out in the national rollout table.
The window is 92 days and contains 62 working days once four bank holidays are taken out. The deadline falls on a Monday, so there is no weekend to lean on at the end: plan for the last week to be a queue of other people’s deadlines, because the South East has more councils than any other region and is the fourth to open.
The date to register by is the end of the three-month window the government publishes on the Housing Hub, after which councils in the region can begin enforcement. The draft Regulations fix when each region opens, not a date to register by. The dates were announced by the government (GOV.UK, 9 September 2026).
Which councils are in the South East region?
The South East region has 64 local authorities, more than any other region. The draft Regulations list the councils in each region (Schedule 1), by the council areas as they stood on 15 December 2026. listed council by council in the draft Regulations (Schedule 1). It runs from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire through Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex to Kent, and includes the unitary councils of Brighton and Hove, Medway, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton, the Isle of Wight, Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. London boroughs are a separate region with a separate date.
| Area | Councils | Licensing beyond mandatory HMO |
|---|---|---|
| Berkshire | Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham | Reading |
| Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes | Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes | None live |
| East Sussex and Brighton | Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother, Wealden | Brighton and Hove (a further selective designation takes effect on 20 October 2026) |
| Hampshire and the Isle of Wight | Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Hart, Havant, Isle of Wight, New Forest, Portsmouth, Rushmoor, Southampton, Test Valley, Winchester | Portsmouth; Southampton |
| Kent and Medway | Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Gravesham, Maidstone, Medway, Sevenoaks, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge and Malling, Tunbridge Wells | Medway: selective and additional designations approved, in force from 4 January 2027 |
| Oxfordshire | Cherwell, Oxford, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, West Oxfordshire | Oxford |
| Surrey | Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley, Woking | Woking |
| West Sussex | Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex, Worthing | Arun |
Which South East councils run selective or additional licensing?
Seven of the South East’s 64 local authorities run selective or additional licensing on Kamma’s data at 6 October 2026: Arun, Brighton and Hove, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton and Woking. Between them they hold 9 live schemes. The other 57 councils require a licence only for mandatory HMOs, which applies in every council. Two of those, Brighton and Hove and Medway, have announced designations that start before registration opens (below).
Selective licensing covers most privately rented homes in a designated area. Additional licensing covers smaller HMOs that the national mandatory rule leaves out. Both matter for the database, because each registration records the property’s licence type and number (what that means for enforcement). Coverage below is as recorded in our data; check the council’s own map before relying on a specific street.
| Council | Scheme | Started | Runs to | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arun | Additional | 1 February 2025 | 31 January 2030 | 3 wards: Hotham, Marine and River |
| Brighton and Hove | Additional | 1 July 2024 | 30 June 2029 | Whole council area |
| Brighton and Hove | Selective | 2 September 2024 | 1 September 2029 | 4 wards |
| Oxford | Selective | 1 September 2022 | 31 August 2027 | Whole council area |
| Oxford | Additional | 25 June 2026 | 24 June 2031 | Whole council area |
| Portsmouth | Additional | 1 September 2023 | 31 August 2028 | Whole council area |
| Reading | Additional | 1 March 2026 | 28 February 2031 | Whole council area |
| Southampton | Additional | 1 October 2025 | 30 September 2030 | Parts of the city |
| Woking | Additional | 5 January 2026 | 4 January 2031 | Whole council area |
The date in bold is a scheme that ends within a year of the registration deadline.
Most of the region has no discretionary licensing at all. On our data that covers Kent outside Medway, Surrey outside Woking, Hampshire outside Portsmouth and Southampton, and Buckinghamshire, so an agent managing there faces the database without a licensing layer on top, apart from mandatory HMOs.
Do any South East licensing schemes start or end during the registration window?
No scheme in Kamma’s data starts or ends between 15 March 2027 and 14 June 2027. Two things sit just outside it. Councils have announced designations that come into force before it opens, so they will be live from the first day. And Oxford’s selective scheme ends on 31 August 2027, about 11 weeks after the deadline, with no replacement designation in our data. A licence is still needed while a scheme runs, and a council that wants to continue one must consult and designate again.
| When | What | Council |
|---|---|---|
| 20 October 2026 | Brighton and Hove's selective scheme for Central Hove and Regency comes into force | Brighton and Hove |
| 4 January 2027 | Medway's selective and additional schemes come into force | Medway |
| 15 March 2027 | Registration opens | |
| 14 June 2027 | Registration deadline | |
| 31 August 2027 | Oxford's selective scheme ends | Oxford |
Oxford’s own page gives the selective scheme’s dates and says nothing about renewal (Oxford City Council). That is a gap in the public record and not a decision either way. Oxford’s additional HMO scheme is a different instrument and was renewed: the council’s Cabinet approved a further five years on 18 March 2026 (council page), and the new designation started on 25 June 2026 (Oxford guide).
Which South East designations start before registration opens?
Two councils have designations that start before registration opens. Kamma’s data holds both; the dates below are checked against the councils’ own pages and the council’s own words are quoted where they are used. Both are in force by 4 January 2027, so every property they cover will need its licence number ready by the time registration opens.
| Council | Scheme | In force from | Council's own record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton and Hove | Selective, Central Hove and Regency wards | 20 October 2026 | Made 6 July 2026; five years from the in-force date; council announcement |
| Medway | Selective (7 wards) and additional (6 wards) | 4 January 2027 | Approved 22 September 2026; designation ends 3 January 2032; council licensing page |
Brighton and Hove’s announcement gives the new area as the Regency and Central Hove wards and says “up to 7,274 properties” will need a licence. It sits beside the four-area selective scheme that began in 2024, which is why the city now has two selective designations with different end dates (6 July 2026 announcement). A property in Hove and a property in Kemptown will therefore carry different licence end dates.
Medway’s selective licensing covers seven wards and its additional HMO licensing six: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton and Watling for both, with Strood North and Frindsbury added for selective. The council states that the proposals were approved on 22 September 2026 and that the schemes “will be implemented on Monday 4 January 2027” (Medway Council; Medway guide). Kamma’s own consultation record has the consultation closing on 31 May 2026.
What have South East councils said about the database and the Act?
We searched council sites and committee papers across the region on 6 October 2026 for statements about the PRS database itself. We did not find a South East council that has published guidance on it. What councils have said is about licensing and about the Renters’ Rights Act more widely, and two statements are worth reading closely.
Brighton and Hove said, on 6 July 2026, that its selective licensing expansion came “in tandem with the introduction of enhanced renter’s rights earlier this year” and that the Act gives councils “more powers to investigate landlords and enforce compliance” (council announcement). It does not mention the database. Our reading, not the council’s: a council that is expanding licensing while the Act’s enforcement powers arrive is a council that will use the register to check licence numbers.
Reading stated on 15 May 2026 that it is “a criminal offence for an agent to operate or manage a licensable property” without a valid licence (Reading Borough Council). That sentence is about agents directly. Each registration asks for licence type and number, so an agent who files entries for landlords is the person who will discover a missing licence first. That link between the two is our inference.
Three of the nine live schemes started within the twelve months before Kamma’s data check: Woking (5 January 2026), Reading (1 March 2026) and Oxford (25 June 2026). A new scheme matters to registration because its licence numbers are the least likely to be on a landlord’s file yet.
Woking made its designation on 29 September 2025, for additional licensing across the whole borough, covering HMOs with three or four tenants from two or more households (Woking Borough Council). Southampton’s council approved its additional scheme in 2025. The licensing guides for each set out wards, fees and how to apply.
What should letting agents in the South East do before 15 March?
Work out which of your managed properties sit inside a live licensing scheme, and gather each licence number before your landlords are asked for it. Each registration asks for licence type and number under a false-information warning, so a missing or wrong licence record becomes a problem at the point of declaration. Licensing offences on or after 1 May 2026 carry civil penalties of up to £40,000 (Housing Act 2004, s.249A) and rent repayment orders of up to 24 months’ rent.
- Match every managed address to the seven councils above, plus Medway, and flag those inside a scheme’s wards
- Record licence numbers and end dates, starting with the newest schemes and with Oxford, whose scheme ends within a year of the deadline
- Add the Brighton and Hove and Medway designations to your records now, before their in-force dates
- Plan the entry work around the Easter and May bank holidays, using the workload calculator
- Read what you need to gather before invitations start arriving
For the agent’s role in the process, see what a letting agent can and cannot do on the PRS database.
Where can you read each council's licensing rules?
Kamma publishes a licensing guide for eight South East councils: the seven with live schemes, plus Medway, whose schemes start on 4 January 2027. Each guide sets out the scheme, wards covered, fees and how to apply.
How much does registration cost, and what do you need to provide?
Registration costs £65 per property per year, and each entry asks for landlord, property, tenancy and compliance details. The full answers sit in the national guides, so they are not repeated here: see how much the PRS database costs and which information registration asks for.
What's changed
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Page published. Licensing data checked against council sources on 6 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
The region has 64 local authorities, as listed in Schedule 1 of the draft Regulations: the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex, with the unitary councils inside them, such as Brighton and Hove, Medway, Portsmouth, Southampton and Reading. A property’s council decides its region, and London boroughs are a separate region.
They change the licence type and number a property needs. Brighton and Hove’s second selective scheme is in force from 20 October 2026 and Medway’s selective and additional schemes from 4 January 2027, both before registration opens on 15 March 2027. A property inside one needs its licence recorded when you register.
Not on the dates we hold. No scheme starts or ends between 15 March 2027 and 14 June 2027, though a council can designate a new one at any time and must give notice first. Keep your entry up to date if a property becomes licensable.
No. The service opens on 15 March 2027 for the South East. The national guide covers early registration and the full rollout.
Find out which of your South East properties are licensable before 15 March.
Get the licensing gaps in your portfolio before your region’s deadline.
