Why not have data protection for landlords?

Secure landlord records and property documents beside a question mark, highlighting privacy concerns over the landlord database.
Readers Question by Readers Question
12:01 AM, 12th October 2026, 3 weeks ago 8
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Landlord NewsLandlords Questions

Hello, Why do I need to pay a fee to ICO to protect tenants, yet this new landlord database is free, to be seen by anyone?

All this information is already gathered by the council and I pay £53 per new tenant for a sublet, seems like the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

I personally feel totally let down, this database will provide all my property details for letting, where is my right to privacy?

Also, it contradicts the fact I live in Scotland, my property is in London, but I’m not allowed to put my Scottish address on the new tenancy agreement.

So what address do I put on this database without a fine?

Thank you,

M

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Tags: ICO fees, landlord address requirements, Landlord Database, landlord privacy, Landlord Registration, Renters’ Rights Act
  • Downsize Government Downsize Government Read Full Bio

    Member Since February 2020 - Comments: 405

    10:43 AM, 12th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    You indirectly work for the government now. Welcome to the civil service. Very efficient and effective.

    1 Report Comment Reply
  • Judith Wordsworth Judith Wordsworth Read Full Bio

    Member Since January 2015 - Comments: 1645 - Articles: 1

    12:01 PM, 12th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    Needs a collective action, preferably all PRS landlords, Art 8 HRA and Art 8 ECHR breaches by this Publicly accessible landlords database.

    1 Report Comment Reply
  • PH PH

    Member Since May 2021 - Comments: 420

    1:31 PM, 12th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 12/10/2026 – 12:01
    So NRLA , what’s the situation here regarding everyone’s privacy ?

    1 Report Comment Reply
  • Reluctant Landlord Reluctant Landlord

    Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3779 - Articles: 5

    2:05 PM, 12th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 12/10/2026 – 12:01
    could not agree more

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  • Jon Landlord Jon Landlord

    Member Since August 2013 - Comments: 35

    3:30 PM, 12th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    The details of what data from the landlord database will be publicly available have not yet been released.

    The NRLA says:

    “When the public portal is available and tenants can access the database, the Government has indicated they will have only limited access to ‘key legal requirements’, while also balancing landlords’ privacy concerns.”

    See: https://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/renters-rights/landlord-database-register-your-rental-property-service

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  • DavidN DavidN

    Member Since March 2023 - Comments: 5

    11:27 PM, 12th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    Reply to the comment left by Jon Landlord at 12/10/2026 – 15:30
    Assuming a contact email is an visible item (and not stupid enough to use a personal email) then a landlord will be able to verify a prospective tenant’s previous addresses and contact the landlords for a reference based on the compliance records required for councils and tribunals – nothing for good tenants to worry about but for poor tenants ….

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  • DPT DPT

    Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1408

    9:22 AM, 13th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    We don’t yet know which bits of the database will be public, so no point worrying or speculating.

    1 Report Comment Reply
  • Oliver Tandy Oliver Tandy

    Member Since September 2026 - Comments: 28

    9:57 PM, 16th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago

    Hi M,

    Your last question is the one nobody here has answered, and it isn’t really a data protection one.

    What stops the Scottish address working is section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. You have to give the tenant “an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served”. Scotland isn’t either. Subsection (2) has the teeth: until you comply, any rent otherwise due is “treated for all purposes as not being due”, which is how arrears cases collapse.

    It doesn’t have to be where you live. An agent’s office, a solicitor or a relative in England will do, and your Scottish address can sit alongside it.

    On the fine, the risk here is section 91, letting without an active entry, and section 92, knowingly giving false information. Neither punishes you for which address you give, so long as it’s true and reaches you.

    One correction, and it cuts against us. The 21 day wait before anything goes public, in section 86(1)(c), covers section 83 entries, banning orders and offences. There’s nothing equivalent drafted for an ordinary landlord entry. That’s a real gap, and the sharp end of Judith’s Article 8 point.

    The ICO fee isn’t the same hand doing the opposite job. It’s charged because you hold tenants’ data, and it funds the regulator, not your privacy.

    OJ

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