Brighton Landlords: PRS Database Duty Starts 15 March 2027

If you let in Brighton and Hove, your rental sits in the South East cohort for the PRS database (the private rented sector database under the Renters' Rights Act). Under the government's published timetable, the requirement for South East properties, including Brighton and Hove, starts on 15 March 2027, and you have three months to register, by 14 June 2027. The service is currently scheduled to open to all landlords on 15 December 2026, so you can register voluntarily before the South East requirement starts. The regulations are still in draft, so these dates can still shift. Check GOV.UK before you register.

Why Brighton and Hove landlords face a layered prep job

The database rolls out by English region. Brighton and Hove is inside the South East schedule under Brighton & Hove City Council, so a flat in Kemptown, a terrace in Hanover, a house in Moulsecoomb or a family let in Hove all share the same March 2027 start and June 2027 register-by date. Your clock follows where the property is, not where you live or where your agent is based.

Brighton and Hove is a coastal city with a large private rented sector and a well-known student and shared-house market around the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. The council's own HMO pages say shared houses make an important contribution for students and residents. That history matters for prep: many addresses already sit inside additional HMO licensing, selective licensing in named wards, or a citywide Article 4 planning control. The national PRS database does not replace that local layer. It sits on top of it.

For the full England timetable see our guide to PRS database registration deadlines. For the wider picture, start with the PRS national database overview. For how local licensing and the national register interact in general, see landlord licensing explained and how to check if your property needs a licence. There is no separate South East regional blog page; this city page is the local entry point for Brighton and Hove.

Brighton & Hove City Council: additional, selective and mandatory licensing

The local authority for properties in Brighton and Hove is Brighton & Hove City Council. The PRS database is a national government register. It sits alongside, not instead of, anything the council already requires locally.

At the time of writing, the council's private landlord pages list three licensing layers:

• Mandatory HMO licensing for HMOs occupied by five or more unrelated people forming more than one household. You always need a licence if those tests are met.
• Additional HMO licensing citywide for HMOs of two or more storeys with three or four unrelated occupiers. The designation runs from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2029. The licence runs from the application date until the scheme ends.
• Selective licensing in four wards: Kemptown, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queen's Park, and Whitehawk and Marina (the council also writes "Whitehawk & Brighton Marina"). It applies if you are renting to one occupier, two occupiers or a family, and it also covers some single-storey flats or bungalows with three or four unrelated occupiers that sit outside mandatory or additional HMO licensing. The scheme runs from 2 September 2024 to 1 September 2029.

The council designated a further selective licensing scheme for Central Hove and Regency wards on 6 July 2026. At the time of writing, the council says plans to bring that expansion into force have been paused pending the review of a legal challenge, and related landlord engagement events are postponed. Check the council's selective licensing page for the live position before you assume an address is in or out of that expansion.

The important point for PRS database prep: a selective, additional or mandatory licence does not replace registration on the national database once the South East window is live. Keep one clean compliance file that covers both the council licence paperwork and the certificates the national register will ask for.

Citywide Article 4 and HMO planning rules

Planning is separate from licensing. Brighton & Hove City Council has a citywide Article 4 Direction: you need planning permission everywhere in the city to change a dwelling house (Use Class C3) into a small HMO (Use Class C4). Planning permission is always required for larger HMOs, normally seven or more unrelated occupants. You can apply for a dual C3/C4 use for ten years in some cases; check the council's planning page for how that works.

City Plan policies CP21 and DM7 also control new HMO applications. Among other tests, the council says applications for new HMOs will not be permitted where more than 10% of dwellings within a 50-metre radius are already HMOs, and proposals must not sandwich a non-HMO between two HMOs or create three or more HMOs in a continuous frontage where the houses are immediately adjacent. The council publishes an HMO concentration map for Article 4 planning purposes (updated annually in October) and says it is not a licensing map.

If you are buying or selling a small HMO as a going concern, mortgage lenders often want proof of lawful planning use. The council notes that smaller Class C4 HMOs that were already in operation before 5 April 2013 in certain wards (including Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingdean and Stanmer, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queen's Park and St Peters and North Laine), or before 3 June 2020 in all other wards, may have changed use without needing planning permission at the time. Keep evidence of lawful use in the property file. For HMO planning in general, see our guide to HMO planning and Article 4.

Brighton prep checklist before 15 March 2027

Use this as a working list for every Brighton and Hove let you own or manage:

• Gas safety (CP12): annual check where gas appliances are present, with the certificate in date, filed, and the renewal date noted.
• EICR satisfactory and still within its validity period for the electrical installation (at most five years).
• EPC valid and meeting the minimum rating the rules require for your let.
• Landlord and property details ready: your name and contact details, the property address, the type of property, the number of bedrooms, how many people and households live there, and the type of tenancy.
• Tenancy paperwork to hand: written agreement, how rent is paid, and who occupies the property (especially important for shared houses).
• Deposit protection and prescribed information completed correctly if you took a deposit. This is a general landlord duty rather than a database field, but keep the scheme details in the same file.
• Brighton & Hove licence details for each address: mandatory HMO, additional HMO, selective licence, or none, with the licence reference and expiry or scheme end date.
• Planning consent or evidence of lawful HMO use for shared houses, including any dual C3/C4 permission and notes from the Article 4 / concentration map checks.
• Fire safety records: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested, and for HMOs, fire alarm test records and any fire risk assessment kept with the certificates.
• Government sign-in: watch GOV.UK for the service link and how to sign in. The service is currently scheduled to open on 15 December 2026.

None of that is new law invented for the database. It is the compliance you should already hold. The PRS database makes that compliance visible. Over time, the Renters' Rights Act also links being registered to advertising a property and to most possession claims. See why that matters in PRS database as eviction gatekeeper, and the early readiness message in when the PRS database goes live. For the wider ombudsman picture, see the PRS landlord ombudsman. For HMO duties that sit beside licensing, see our guide to running an HMO.

What to do between now and June 2027

1. List every Brighton and Hove property you let, including those managed by an agent, and confirm each address sits under Brighton & Hove City Council.
2. Map each address to the right licence type: mandatory HMO, additional HMO, selective, or none. Check the council's live position on the paused Central Hove and Regency designation. Use the council's property licensing register where you need to check an existing licence.
3. Check planning for shared houses against the citywide Article 4 rules and the HMO concentration map before you buy, convert or expand occupancy.
4. Audit certificates this winter: gas, EICR and EPC. Book renewals that would otherwise land inside the March to June registration window, when demand for engineers may be higher.
5. Bundle documents per property as digital files so registration is copy-and-paste, not a hunt across email and drawers. If you hold a council licence, keep the licence and the national registration in the same file.
6. Diary the currently scheduled dates: requirement from 15 March 2027; register by 14 June 2027. Voluntary registration is currently scheduled to open on 15 December 2026. Aim to complete registration well before mid-June, not on the last weekend.
7. Re-check GOV.UK nearer the time for the live link to the "Register your rental property" service, the fee, and any adjustment to the regional calendar, and re-check Brighton & Hove City Council's licensing and planning pages for any change (including the paused Central Hove and Regency selective licensing designation).

A letting agent cannot register for you. The landlord makes the landlord and property entries and pays the fee (a small number of others, such as an attorney or personal representative, can act instead). An agent or property manager can supply some of the tenancy and safety details. Agree now who will provide which documents and where the certificates live.

Licence fees and the announced PRS database fee

Many Brighton and Hove landlords already pay for additional HMO, mandatory HMO or selective licensing, and will feel the announced PRS database fee as another charge on the same property. For single-household lets outside selective licensing wards with no council licence, it will be a new charge. That frustration is understandable. The practical response is still the same: holding a council licence does not register you on the national database, and registering does not replace a licence. A missed gas or electrical renewal can cost far more than either. Keep one clean compliance file per property so the council licence and the national register draw on the same documents.

General guidance for landlords in England, not legal advice. PRS database start dates, registration deadlines, fees, who must register, and how the service works are set by government and can change. The Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 are still a draft statutory instrument, so dates can still shift. Local licensing schemes and planning rules are set by Brighton & Hove City Council and can change too. Always confirm the current South East dates, fee and process on GOV.UK, check licensing on the council site for your exact address, and take professional advice for your situation. LandlordProof helps you organise compliance documents and reminders; it does not make you legally compliant on its own, and it does not register you on the PRS database. You remain responsible for your legal duties as a landlord, so check GOV.UK or your council if you are unsure.