Sandwell Landlords: PRS Database Duty Starts 15 December 2026

If you let anywhere in Sandwell, whether in West Bromwich, Oldbury, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury or Rowley Regis, 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.

One borough, six towns, one council

Sandwell is not a single town. It is a metropolitan borough made up of six towns: West Bromwich, Oldbury, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and Rowley Regis, which takes in places such as Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill. The local housing and planning authority for all six is Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (Sandwell Council), the name GOV.UK uses in its list of West Midlands councils. So a flat in West Bromwich and a terrace in Smethwick follow the same council rules and the same West Midlands planned date.

Every HMO in Sandwell needs a licence

In Sandwell, every shared house needs a council licence. When we checked the council's HMO pages on 30 October 2026, they said that from 1 October 2024 all HMOs in Sandwell occupied by 3 or more people from 2 or more households must be licensed under the council's borough-wide additional licensing scheme, with HMOs of 5 or more people needing a mandatory licence as before. The council's designation says the scheme was made on 19 June 2024 and ends on 30 September 2029, unless the council revokes it earlier. Its public notice says it covers HMOs whatever the number of storeys, including single storey flats, and certain converted blocks of flats (known as section 257 HMOs). It replaced an earlier additional licensing scheme that covered parts of West Bromwich.

The council's additional licensing page says a licence will be for the duration of the scheme, although the council can make it shorter if it has issues with the property. Applications are made online, and the council says you need a MySandwell account if you want to save your progress, and asks you to have all your documents to hand before you apply.

When we checked, the council's pages described HMO licensing only, and we found no selective licensing scheme for single-household lets and no proposal for one. So Sandwell splits in two. If your shared house has 3 or more people from 2 or more households, it needs a licence under the council's scheme, so your licence file is the place to start. Many of the same papers, such as the gas safety record and electrical report, can serve both. For a family home or a couple's flat, 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.

Planning: Sandwell's Cabinet has approved borough-wide HMO controls

Planning is separate from licensing. When we checked the council's HMO information page on 30 October 2026, it said that small HMOs for 3 to 6 people do not currently need planning permission in Sandwell, and that Sandwell does not currently have any Article 4 Directions in place for HMOs. HMOs for 7 or more people already need planning permission.

The council's Cabinet has approved a change. On 14 October 2026, its Cabinet approved the making of an immediate Article 4 Direction covering the whole of Sandwell, which would remove the right to turn a house into a small HMO without planning permission. The Cabinet minutes authorise officers to finalise and make the Direction, give the required notices and consult, with a further report to Cabinet before the end of the six-month statutory period on whether to confirm it. The minutes say the Direction would not prohibit HMOs and would not affect existing lawful HMOs. When we checked on 30 October 2026, we had not found a published Direction or notice, so we cannot give a date from which it applies.

Separately, the council's evidence paper for the Direction says the new Sandwell Local Plan is awaiting the inspector's final report, and that its proposed HMO policy would stop more than 10% of homes within a 100 metre radius becoming HMOs, with design and amenity tests on top. That is a proposed policy in a plan not yet adopted.

Why this matters for the database: if you already run a shared house in Sandwell, the evidence you gather for registration, such as tenancy agreements, gas safety records and dated certificates, may also help show when the HMO use began. The council decides what evidence it accepts. Keep it together in the property's file with your licence. For HMO planning in general, see our guide to HMO planning and Article 4.

First check: B, DY, WS and WV postcodes cross the borough line

Sandwell has no postcode area of its own. The B67 to B71 districts around Smethwick, Oldbury and West Bromwich are within the borough, but most others are shared. B66 in Smethwick is shared with Birmingham, and so are B16, B18 and B21 on the Birmingham side. B42 and B43 around Great Barr are split with Birmingham, and B43 with Walsall too. Wednesbury (WS10) and WS5 are shared with Walsall, Tipton (DY4) with Dudley, and the B64 and B65 districts around Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis are split between Sandwell and Dudley. B62 takes in parts of Sandwell, Birmingham, Dudley and Bromsgrove, and WV14 parts of Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Every one of those councils is in the West Midlands, so the PRS database planned date is the same either side of the line. What changes is the local layer: Sandwell's borough-wide additional licensing and any Sandwell Article 4 Direction apply only inside the borough, and Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Bromsgrove 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 Sandwell 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 Sandwell the answer is simpler than in most places: no licence for single-household lets, and a licence for every HMO of 3 or more people from 2 or more households, additional for 3 or 4 people and mandatory for 5 or more. 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.

Sandwell prep checklist before 15 December 2026

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

• Council check: confirm whether the address is in Sandwell or in Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton or Bromsgrove. 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 3 or more people from 2 or more households: the licence reference and expiry date. For single-household lets, note that no licence is needed today, so you can answer the registration question quickly.
• Planning evidence for every shared house: any planning permission, and dated evidence of when the HMO use began.
• 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 Sandwell and elsewhere, including those managed by an agent, and note the council and region for each. In most portfolios, the Sandwell 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 family let: single-household homes have no licence application to draw on, so this is where most of the preparation time goes.
4. File HMO start-date evidence for any shared house, while the records are easy to find.
5. Bundle documents per property as digital files so registration is copy-and-paste, not a hunt across email and drawers.
6. 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.
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 Sandwell Council's planning pages for the Article 4 Direction notice and how to comment on it.

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 Sandwell 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.