Draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026

Sarah Bool Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 General Committees

[Matthew Pennycook]

We are not going to pause—I say this to the shadow Minister quite plainly—because we want the database in place. It has benefits for landlords in understanding their legal responsibility, and it has benefits for tenants. This is the first of two statutory instruments, as I have made clear. We think we can do that work, working with the sector to understand how we might integrate their management systems.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Matthew Pennycook]

I will give way, and then I am going to make some progress, because the same points continue to be raised.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sarah Bool]

I was formerly a commercial property lawyer, so I want to bring up a practical point about enforcement. The ambition behind the regulations—to make sure that everybody, including tenants, has the information that they need—is positive, but the practical reality is that if they cannot be enforced properly, it will cause problems and delays in the rental sector. I advocate for a pause—that is essential. If information needs to be gathered and uploaded for potentially up to 10,000 properties—an extremely large number—it will probably take a year or more to get that information up. Have we thought through the knock-on impacts? I encourage exercising caution, having seen the practical reality of being on the other side when I was a lawyer back in the day.

[Matthew Pennycook]

We have thought through the timetable and the implementation, and we are confident that we can proceed as we intend to.

[Sarah Bool]

Will the Minister give way one more time?

[Matthew Pennycook]

No, I will make some progress.

Fees will support activity to identify and act on non-compliance with the reforms in the Renters’ Rights Act. The funding will support councils, ensuring that they have the staff and skills required to identify and tackle non-compliance and to drive landlords who persist in breaking the law out of the sector. Fees will be pro-rated during the initial roll-out, ensuring that landlords in regions required to register early are treated fairly. To go back to my opening remarks, we will roll-out the measure on a regional basis from December. I think I have answered all the points put to me.