Derby Landlords: PRS Database Duty Starts 15 February 2027

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

Why Derby is in the East Midlands window

The PRS database rolls out by English region, not by city. Derby sits in the East Midlands schedule, so a terrace in Normanton, a shared house in the Arboretum, or a family home in Mickleover all share the same February 2027 start and May 2027 register-by date. Your clock follows where the property is, not where you live or where your agent is based.

Watch the DE postcode, because it crosses a regional line. DE postcodes cover Derby and much of Derbyshire, including places such as Belper, Ilkeston, Swadlincote and Ashbourne, which sit under Derbyshire district councils rather than Derby City Council. Those towns are still in the East Midlands, so the dates are the same. But DE postcodes also cover Burton upon Trent, which is in Staffordshire and so in the West Midlands. Under the published timetable, West Midlands lets have an earlier requirement, from 15 December 2026, with registration by 14 March 2027. If you let on both sides of that line, you have two different deadlines. See our West Midlands PRS database guide for the Burton side. East Staffordshire Borough Council also runs its own selective licensing on certain Burton streets, with a new scheme approved to start on 1 January 2027, so check its pages for those addresses.

For the full England timetable see our guide to PRS database registration deadlines. For the wider picture, start with the PRS national database overview. Letting elsewhere in the East Midlands too? See the companion guides for Nottingham, Leicester and Northampton landlords.

Derby City Council and local licensing

The local housing authority for properties in the city is Derby City Council. The PRS database is a national government register. It sits alongside, not instead of, Derby's local licensing. Compared with its East Midlands neighbours Nottingham and Leicester, Derby's licensing is light: at the time of writing, the council says it does not operate any additional HMO licensing or selective licensing schemes. For many single-household lets in Derby, the PRS database will be the first council or government register the landlord has had to join for that property.

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across the city to HMOs with five or more people forming two or more households and sharing facilities, whatever the number of storeys. That includes some flats. The council says it has a large backlog of HMO licence applications and that its usual 90-day processing time may be exceeded, so if you have a licence renewal coming up in 2027, apply early. Licences generally run for up to five years, and the council says it may issue a shorter licence if, for example, the building needs planning permission that has not been obtained. The council has also adopted its own bedroom size standards for new HMOs, and its amenity guide for HMOs was revised in June 2026, so check the current version before you set up or change a shared house.

Planning is separate from licensing. An Article 4 Direction came into force on 3 May 2025 covering the whole of Arboretum ward and the parts of Abbey, Alvaston North, Darley, Mackworth and New Zealand, Normanton, and Sinfin and Osmaston that sit within the ring road. Inside that area, turning a family house into a small HMO for three to six unrelated people now needs planning permission. Larger HMOs for seven or more people already needed it. The council's HMO planning policy says new HMOs will normally only be permitted where they would not create three or more HMOs side by side, would not leave an ordinary home sandwiched between HMOs, and would not push HMOs above 10% of properties within 50 metres. Use the Article 4 layer on the council's webmap to check an address before you convert or buy.

Inner-city terraces, student and shared lets

Derby's rental market ranges from older terraced streets in the inner wards to city-centre flats and family homes in the suburbs. The University of Derby brings student houses and shared lets to the city. The council's Safer Renting Derby project focuses on the Abbey, Arboretum and Normanton wards, where a council analysis of private housing conditions found significant inequalities, and it works with landlords on issues such as damp and mould through education and enforcement. If you let older stock in those areas, expect the council to be paying close attention to condition, not just paperwork.

There is also a timing point. With no selective licensing in Derby, the PRS database will, for many landlords, be the first time a public body asks for their property details and certificate dates in one place. The PRS database is a different, national register with its own entries and fee, and an HMO licence, where you hold one, does not count as registration.

Derby prep checklist before 15 February 2027

Use this as a working list for every Derby 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.
• Derby licence details for each address: mandatory HMO or none, with the licence reference and expiry date, and planning consent or evidence of lawful HMO use for shared houses inside the Article 4 area.
• Fire safety records: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested, and for HMOs, fire alarm test records and the 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 HMO duties that sit beside licensing, see our guides to running an HMO and HMO planning and Article 4.

What to do between now and May 2027

1. List every property you let with a DE postcode, including those managed by an agent, and note which council covers each one: Derby City Council, a Derbyshire district, or East Staffordshire for Burton.
2. Split your deadlines by region: East Midlands addresses follow the February and May 2027 dates; any Burton upon Trent addresses follow the earlier West Midlands dates.
3. Check each city address on the council's webmap for the Article 4 area, and count people and households to see whether a mandatory HMO licence is needed.
4. Audit certificates this autumn and winter: gas, EICR and EPC. Prefer bookings before Christmas so the new year is free for registration, not for waiting on reports.
5. Diary the currently scheduled dates: requirement from 15 February 2027; register by 14 May 2027. Voluntary registration is currently scheduled to open on 15 December 2026. Aim to complete registration well before mid-May, not on the last weekend before the deadline.
6. 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 Derby City Council's licensing and planning pages for any new scheme.

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

Most Derby landlords do not pay a council licence fee today, because only larger HMOs need one. The announced PRS database fee may therefore be the first registration cost for many single-household lets. Holding an HMO 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 any 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 Derby City Council (or, outside the city, by the relevant district or borough council) and can change too. Always confirm the current East Midlands 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.