The PRS database in London: dates, deadline and licensing
London is the eighth of nine regions to open on the PRS database. Registration opens on 15 July 2027, and every rented property in the capital needs an entry by 14 October 2027.
On this page
- When do you have to register in London?
- Which councils are in the London region?
- Which London councils run selective or additional licensing?
- What is changing in London’s schemes before registration opens?
- Do any London licensing schemes start or end during the registration window?
- What should letting agents in London do before 15 July?
- Where can you read each borough’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 London?
Landlords in London must register each rented property between 15 July 2027 and 14 October 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 65 working days once the August bank holiday is taken out. It runs through the school summer holidays and the September changeover. Staff leave and tenancy turnover are both likely to be heavier in those weeks, which is our reading of the calendar and not a government figure. The deadline falls on a Thursday, so there is no weekend to fall back on: Thursday 14 October 2027 is the last working day for anything that needs a colleague, a landlord’s reply or a council’s answer.
London agents often manage stock just over the boundary. A property in Essex or Hertfordshire is in the East of England, whose window runs from 15 January 2027 to 14 April 2027. A property in Kent, Surrey, Berkshire or Buckinghamshire is in the South East, whose window runs from 15 March 2027 to 14 June 2027. Both close months before London’s opens, so a portfolio that straddles the boundary gets its outer-area work done first.
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 London region?
London has 33 local authorities: the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The draft Regulations list the councils in each region (Schedule 1), by the council areas as they stood on 15 December 2026. The table below uses the ONS statistical split into Inner and Outer London. A property’s council decides its region, so a flat in Dartford or Slough is not a London property whatever its postcode says. Four councils run no selective or additional scheme at all (Bromley, City of London, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames), so agents there face the database with mandatory HMO licensing only.
| Area | Councils | Licensing beyond mandatory HMO |
|---|---|---|
| Inner London | Camden, City of London, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Westminster | 13 of 14 run a scheme. None in City of London |
| Outer London | Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Waltham Forest | 16 of 19 run a scheme. None in Bromley, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames |
Which London councils run selective or additional licensing?
29 of London’s 33 local authorities run selective or additional licensing on Kamma’s data at 6 October 2026, and between them they hold 62 live schemes. Most of those boroughs layer a ward-based selective scheme over a borough-wide additional one. 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 is as recorded in our data, and several boroughs designate in pieces. Harrow holds six separate one-ward selective designations, and Southwark and Ealing each hold more than one selective scheme with different end dates. Hammersmith and Fulham’s selective scheme is street-based: the council’s own 2021 proposal cut the streets covered from 128 to 23 (council report). Check the council’s own map before relying on a specific street.
| Council | Selective licensing | Additional licensing |
|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | Whole council area to 5 Apr 2030 | Whole council area to 8 Jan 2030 |
| Barnet | None | Whole council area to 26 Oct 2027 |
| Bexley | Parts of 1 ward: Belvedere to 12 Jan 2030 | None |
| Brent | 3 wards to 31 Jul 2028; 18 wards to 31 Mar 2029 | Whole council area to 1 Feb 2031 |
| Camden | None | 20 wards to 7 Dec 2030 |
| Croydon | 14 wards to 1 Sep 2031 | Whole council area to 1 Sep 2031 |
| Ealing | 1 ward, and parts of 6 more to 31 Mar 2027; 10 wards, and parts of 5 more to 2 Jan 2028 | Whole council area to 31 Mar 2027 |
| Enfield | 17 wards to 31 Aug 2031 | Whole council area to 31 Aug 2030 |
| Greenwich | Parts of 5 wards to 30 Sep 2027 | 14 wards, and parts of 9 more to 30 Dec 2028 |
| Hackney | 17 wards to 30 Apr 2031 | Whole council area to 30 Apr 2031 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | Parts of 21 wards to 4 Jun 2027 | Whole council area to 4 Jun 2027 |
| Haringey | 14 wards to 16 Nov 2027 | Whole council area to 16 Jun 2029 |
| Harrow | Six schemes of 1 ward each, ending 1 May 2031 to 31 Aug 2031 | None |
| Havering | 6 wards, and parts of 1 more to 17 Mar 2031 | Whole council area to 17 Mar 2031 |
| Hillingdon | None | Whole council area to 23 Aug 2031 |
| Hounslow | None | Whole council area to 10 Dec 2030 |
| Islington | 3 wards to 19 May 2029; 10 wards from 23 Nov 2026 to 22 Nov 2031 | Whole council area to 31 Jan 2031 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | None | Whole council area to 31 May 2028 |
| Lambeth | 4 wards to 1 Sep 2029; 19 wards to 31 Aug 2030 | Whole council area to 8 Dec 2026 |
| Lewisham | 14 wards, and parts of 4 more to 30 Jun 2029 | Whole council area to 4 Apr 2027 |
| Merton | 4 wards to 23 Sep 2028 | 7 wards to 23 Sep 2028 |
| Newham | 16 wards, and parts of 6 more to 31 May 2028 | 16 wards, and parts of 6 more to 31 Dec 2027 |
| Redbridge | Parts of 2 wards: Ilford Town, Valentines to 31 Oct 2028; 14 wards, and parts of 1 more to 7 Apr 2029 | 18 wards, and parts of 4 more to 17 Sep 2028 |
| Southwark | Four schemes, ending 28 Feb 2027 to 31 Oct 2028 | Whole council area to 28 Feb 2027 |
| Sutton | None | Whole council area to 22 Mar 2030 |
| Tower Hamlets | None | 13 wards, and parts of 7 more to 31 Mar 2029 |
| Waltham Forest | 20 wards to 30 Apr 2030 | Whole council area to 31 Mar 2030 |
| Wandsworth | 4 wards to 30 Jun 2030; 3 wards to 31 Mar 2031 | Whole council area to 30 Jun 2030 |
| Westminster | 14 wards, and parts of 1 more to 23 Nov 2030 | Whole council area to 30 Aug 2031 |
What is changing in London's schemes before registration opens?
The schemes that matter most to a London portfolio are not the ones that run to 2030 or 2031. They are the ones that start or lapse between now and 15 July, because a licence record that was right in autumn can be wrong on the day registration opens.
Schemes that have just started, or are about to. Five councils have brought schemes into force in the last two months, and one more starts later. Applications for the newest are likely to be still arriving.
| Starts | Council | Scheme | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 August 2026 | Hillingdon | Additional | Whole council area |
| 31 August 2026 | Westminster | Additional | Whole council area |
| 1 September 2026 | Enfield | Selective | 17 wards |
| 1 September 2026 | Harrow | Selective | 1 ward |
| 1 September 2026 | Harrow | Selective | 1 ward |
| 25 September 2026 | Croydon | Additional | Whole council area |
| 25 September 2026 | Croydon | Selective | 14 wards |
| 23 November 2026 (not yet in force) | Islington | Selective | 10 wards |
Schemes that end before the window opens. The table lists every live scheme whose last day falls before registration opens, with what we know of what follows.
| Last day in force | Council | Scheme | What follows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 December 2026 | Lambeth | Additional | No replacement designation in our data |
| 28 February 2027 | Southwark | Selective (2 schemes) and additional | No replacement designation in our data |
| 31 March 2027 | Ealing | Selective and additional | The council consulted on renewing additional licensing; consultation closed on 24 September 2026 |
| 4 April 2027 | Lewisham | Additional | No replacement designation in our data |
| 4 June 2027 | Hammersmith and Fulham | Selective and additional | No replacement designation in our data |
Tower Hamlets has no selective scheme
Tower Hamlets’ selective licensing scheme ended on 30 September 2026. The council’s own page says “there will be no selective licensing scheme in the borough” from 1 October 2026, and that “the council is considering what options exist for a new scheme” (council page). It has commissioned a stock modelling report, which the page says is due in October 2026. The borough’s additional licensing scheme for smaller HMOs runs to 31 March 2029. Any new selective scheme would need a consultation first, and we have not found one. Whether a replacement could be in force by the window is our open question and not the council’s statement.
Greenwich is consulting on a larger replacement
Greenwich’s selective scheme ends on 30 September 2027, inside the registration window. The Royal Borough’s consultation on a replacement runs from 21 July 2026 and closes on 12 October 2026. It proposes a scheme across 18 wards for five years, in place of the current smaller one, and the council says a Cabinet report will follow toward the end of 2026 (council page). We do not yet have a designation or start date for a replacement, so whether it begins before or inside the window is an open question.
Ealing and Barnet have consulted
Ealing consulted on renewing and updating its additional licensing scheme, and Barnet on a new selective scheme across ten wards. NRLA’s September 2026 licensing update records both, with closing dates of 24 September 2026 and 15 September 2026 (NRLA). We could not open the councils’ own consultation pages, so the detail is second-hand. Neither council has made a designation in our data, and a consultation is not a scheme.
Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Hammersmith and Fulham
Each of these boroughs has a scheme ending before the window opens and no replacement designation in our data. We found no published consultation on a replacement on the councils’ own pages that we could open. That is an absence of evidence, not evidence that nothing is planned. A council that wants to continue a scheme must consult and designate again, so check each council’s licensing page before you tell a landlord that a borough will have no scheme.
Do any London licensing schemes start or end during the registration window?
Between 15 July 2027 and 14 October 2027, Greenwich’s selective scheme ends on 30 September 2027. A further 10 live schemes end in the year after the deadline, the first of them Barnet’s on 26 October 2027. The table below sets them all out.
| Last day in force | Council | Scheme | What follows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 July 2027 | Registration opens | ||
| 30 September 2027 | Greenwich | Selective | The council is consulting on a wider replacement scheme; consultation closes on 12 October 2026 |
| 14 October 2027 | Registration deadline | ||
| 26 October 2027 | Barnet | Additional | No replacement designation in our data. A separate selective consultation closed on 15 September 2026 |
| 16 November 2027 | Haringey | Selective | No replacement designation in our data |
| 31 December 2027 | Newham | Additional | No replacement designation in our data |
| 2 January 2028 | Ealing | Selective | No replacement designation in our data |
| 31 May 2028 | Kensington and Chelsea | Additional | No replacement designation in our data |
| 31 May 2028 | Newham | Selective | No replacement designation in our data |
| 31 July 2028 | Brent | Selective | No replacement designation in our data |
| 17 September 2028 | Redbridge | Additional | No replacement designation in our data |
| 23 September 2028 | Merton | Selective and additional | No replacement designation in our data |
Anything that ends inside the window, or soon after it, is worth a note against every property in that scheme before you start entering records.
What should letting agents in London do before 15 July?
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 29 councils above. In boroughs with ward-level or street-level schemes, check the council’s map for each address
- Record licence numbers and end dates, starting with the schemes that end before or inside the window, which the tables above list from 6 October 2026
- Confirm what Bromley, City of London, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames properties need: mandatory HMO licences only
- Flag properties outside London first: the East of England and South East windows close before yours opens
- Plan the entry work around the summer 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.
Councils are already planning for the database. Newham’s page on the Renters’ Rights Act lists “A mandatory Private Rented Sector landlord database” among the future changes (Newham). What a council will do with the data is not yet set out in the draft regulations.
Where can you read each borough's licensing rules?
Kamma publishes a licensing guide for 31 of London’s 33 councils, including all 29 that run schemes. Each guide sets out the scheme, wards covered, fees and how to apply.
Islington’s new selective scheme has its own set of pages: the 2026 selective licensing hub, the ward list, the exemptions, the fees and the property licence checker.
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
London has 33 local authorities: the 32 boroughs and the City of London. A property’s council decides its region, so stock in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent or Surrey registers in the East of England or the South East, on those regions’ own dates.
No. 29 of the 33 do on Kamma’s data at 6 October 2026. Bromley, City of London, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames have mandatory HMO licensing only. Check the council’s page on the day you submit.
Yes, on the dates we hold. Greenwich’s selective scheme ends on 30 September 2027, inside the window, and the council is consulting on a larger replacement. Other schemes end soon after the deadline. A council can also designate a new one at any time after consulting, so keep your entry up to date if a property becomes licensable.
No. Registration asks for the licence type the property needs on the day. A consultation is not a scheme, and nothing applies until a council designates. Once a scheme is in force, the property needs the licence and the entry records its number.
No. The service opens on 15 July 2027 for London. The national guide covers early registration and the full rollout.
Find out which of your London properties are licensable before 15 July.
Get the licensing gaps in your portfolio before your region’s deadline.
