PRS Database could drive up costs without improving standards – Propertymark

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database must be workable for landlords and letting agents, claims an industry body.

Propertymark is warning the government not to duplicate information already available through selective licensing, saying it risks increasing workloads without improving standards.

Under the Renters’ Rights Act, all landlords will need to sign up for the database, which will include information about their properties that tenants can access.

If a landlord lets or advertises a property without it first being registered on the database, they can be issued with a civil penalty of up to £7,000 or a £40,000 fine if they provide fraudulent information to the database.

Enforcement should help landlords

In a post on its website, Propertymark says the database must support, rather than replace, effective local enforcement.

The industry body writes: “The database must not simply duplicate information already submitted through local licensing schemes or held on other government-approved systems, as this risks increasing workload and fees without necessarily improving standards.

“The interaction between the database, unique identifiers, property advertising, and the new Landlord Ombudsman must be clearly understood, and the legislation and supporting technology must be workable and based on evidence from those who will use it

“Landlords who deliberately operate outside the law may not register at all or could submit false documents. Councils will still need sufficient staff, resources and investigatory capacity to identify them.

“At the same time, enforcement should help landlords and agents who are actively trying to comply and correct genuine mistakes, while stronger penalties can be issued against deliberate and repeated breaches.”

Propertymark says in practice the PRS Database could mean more work for letting agents, such as new onboarding checks and recording management.

Additional costs

Propertymark is part of The Lettings Industry Council (TLIC), which has previously warned the PRS Database risks becoming a costly failure.

The industry body says letting agents will need to decide whether helping landlords register forms part of their existing service or incurs additional costs.

Propertymark said: “Many agents already hold relevant information in their existing systems. Requiring staff to enter the same data manually into a separate database would increase costs and the risk of errors.

“Agents will also need to decide whether helping landlords register will form part of their existing service or be offered separately. Terms of business may eventually need to explain the extent of the agent’s authority, the information the landlord must provide and responsibility for inaccurate or late information.”

The industry body added: “The regulations will establish requirements for making and updating entries, meaning registration is unlikely to be a one-off exercise. Changes of ownership, managing agent, contact details, property status and safety documentation may all need to be reflected on the database.

“Agents will need clarity on who is responsible for each update, how quickly it must be completed and what happens where the landlord does not respond.”