Dudley Landlords: PRS Database Duty Starts 15 December 2026

If you let anywhere in the borough of Dudley, including Stourbridge, Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Sedgley and Kingswinford, your rental sits in the West Midlands cohort for the PRS database (the private rented sector database under the Renters' Rights Act). GOV.UK's guidance for landlords (29 October 2026) says the West Midlands registration period is from 15 December 2026 to 14 March 2027. These dates depend on the regulations being approved by Parliament. That makes the West Midlands the first English region where the requirement applies, a month ahead of the East of England. Check GOV.UK before you register.

Dudley Council: mandatory HMO licensing only, on a paper form

The local housing authority for the whole borough is Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (Dudley Council). When we checked the council's private landlords page on 29 October 2026, it said all HMOs with 5 or more people must be licensed, an HMO being a home where 3 or more people forming 2 or more households share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen. In a Freedom of Information response in April 2026, the council said there is no selective licensing scheme and no additional licensing scheme in the borough, and we found no proposal for either when we checked.

So a family home, a couple's flat or a house shared by 3 or 4 people needs no council licence in Dudley today. For those lets, the PRS database is likely to be the first council or government register the property has had to join, and the details and certificates need gathering from scratch. The council's website says private renting accounts for 12% of homes in the borough and has doubled over the past decade.

Shared houses with 5 or more people are different. The council's licence application is a form sent by post to its Housing Enforcement Team, and its page says an application is not valid without a floor plan showing room sizes, kitchen and bathroom facilities and the position of smoke alarms, emergency lighting and fire doors, or without a current gas safety certificate where the property has gas. It also asks, if available, for an electrical test certificate, fire alarm and emergency lighting test certificates, the EPC, a portable appliance test certificate for electrical equipment you supply, and a declaration on upholstered furniture. The draft regulations ask for a gas safety record, an EICR and EPC information for each let home, so many of the same papers can serve both.

Small HMOs in Dudley have needed planning permission since 2023

Planning is separate from licensing. When we checked the council's HMO Article 4 page on 29 October 2026, it said a borough-wide Article 4 Direction has been in force since 15 September 2023. It removes the right to turn a house into a small HMO for up to 6 people without planning permission, so that change needs a planning application anywhere in the borough, from Stourbridge to Coseley. HMOs for more than 6 people need planning permission anyway.

Those applications are now judged against the Dudley Local Plan, which the council says was adopted at Full Council on 13 July 2026. Its Policy DLP17 permits new HMOs only where, among other things, the loss of a family home with 3 or more bedrooms is justified by local housing need, neighbours' amenity and the character of the area are not significantly harmed, parking and highway safety are acceptable, the site has good access to services by walking and public transport, and there is adequate space for bins, recycling and outdoor amenity.

If you run a shared house in Dudley, keep the planning permission, or evidence that the HMO use began before 15 September 2023, in the same file as the certificates you will need for registration. For HMO planning in general, see our guide to HMO planning and Article 4.

First check: DY, B and WV postcodes cross council lines

Dudley's postcodes are shared with its neighbours. Tipton (DY4) is in Sandwell, and the B64 and B65 districts around Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis are split between Dudley and Sandwell. Halesowen (B63) is in Dudley, but the neighbouring B62 district also takes in parts of Birmingham, Sandwell and Bromsgrove. Hagley (DY8 and DY9) is in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, Kinver (DY7) is in South Staffordshire, and the DY3 and WV14 districts around Sedgley and Coseley are shared with Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and South Staffordshire.

Unlike some places on our list, every one of those neighbours is in the West Midlands too, so the PRS database planned date is the same either side of the line. What changes is the local layer: Dudley's Article 4 Direction and Local Plan apply only inside the borough, and Sandwell, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Bromsgrove and South Staffordshire set their own licensing and planning rules. A quick first check for any address is which council sends the council tax bill.

For the full England timetable see our guide to PRS database planned dates by region. For the wider picture, start with the PRS national database overview. For the regional overview, see West Midlands landlords and the PRS database. Letting across the border too? See our guides for Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Portfolios across regions: the West Midlands comes first

The West Midlands is the first English region in the timetable, so a Dudley let is likely to be the first home in a mixed portfolio that needs registering. Every other region has a later planned date, from the East of England on 15 January 2027 to the South West on 15 August 2027. Under the government's current plans, the service is currently scheduled to open on 15 December 2026, and from then you can register homes in other regions voluntarily, before each region's requirement starts. Nothing needs registering today, but getting your documents ready now means you can register everything in one go.

Licensing and the PRS database are separate

A council licence does not replace registration on the national database once your region's requirement is live, and registering does not replace a licence. GOV.UK's guidance says the registration form asks whether the property needs an HMO, additional or selective licence, so have the answer and any licence number ready for each address. In Dudley the answer is simple for most lets: no licence for single-household homes or for shared houses of 3 or 4 people, and a mandatory licence for 5 or more people in 2 or more households. Have the licence reference and expiry date ready for every licensed HMO. For how the two fit together, see the PRS database versus selective licensing, and for licensing in general, landlord licensing explained and how to check if your property needs a licence.

Dudley prep checklist before 15 December 2026

Use this as a working list for every Dudley let you own or manage:

• Council check: confirm whether the address is in Dudley borough or in Sandwell, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Bromsgrove or South Staffordshire. The planned date is the same, but local rules are not.
• 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 (for shared houses, note how many people and households live there).
• Licence details for every HMO with 5 or more people: the mandatory licence reference and expiry date. For other lets, note that no licence is needed, so you can answer the registration question quickly.
• Planning evidence for every shared house: the planning permission, or evidence that the HMO use began before 15 September 2023.
• 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.
• Fire safety records: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested, and for any HMO, fire alarm test records and any other fire safety records 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 15 December 2026

1. List every property you let, in Dudley and elsewhere, including those managed by an agent, and note the council and region for each. In most portfolios, the Dudley homes will be the first that need registering.
2. Audit certificates now: gas, EICR and EPC, so renewals do not land in the weeks before Christmas.
3. Start a file for each unlicensed let: family homes and small shared houses have no licence application to draw on, so this is where most of the preparation time goes.
4. Bundle documents per property as digital files so registration is copy-and-paste, not a hunt across email and drawers.
5. Diary the planned date: requirement from 15 December 2026, the day the service is currently scheduled to open. Aim to be ready well before your region's planned date.
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 Dudley Council's licensing and planning pages for any change.

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). GOV.UK's guidance for landlords, published on 29 October 2026, says the annual service fee is £65 per property, pro-rated during the roll-out. 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.

General guidance for landlords in England, not legal advice. PRS database planned start dates, 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 Dudley Council (or by the neighbouring council for addresses outside the borough) and can change too. Always confirm the current West Midlands dates, fee and process on GOV.UK, check licensing and planning on the council site for your exact address, and take professional advice for your situation. LandlordProof helps you organise your certificates, documents and reminders. Using it does not by itself meet your legal duties as a landlord, 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.