PropFiler · Free calculator for landlords in England
PRS Database cost calculator
How much will England's new landlord database cost you? Type in how many homes you let and where they are. You'll see the £65 fees, the hours of form-filling and how many people you need before your deadline.
61
working days to register, from the day the PRS Database opens on 15 December 2026 to your deadline on 14 March 2027.
| Best case | Worst case | |
|---|---|---|
| Time per home | 10 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Hours of form-filling | 167 | 500 |
| Full-time staff needed | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Staff cost | £3,000 | £12,500 |
| Government fees, full year | £65,000 | £65,000 |
| Total at the full fee | £68,000 | £77,500 |
During the rollout the government is pro-rating the first fee so early registrants don't pay more, but it hasn't said how. Your first payment may be lower. After that it's £65 a home every year.
In the worst case that's 1.4 full-time people working on nothing else for all 61 working days. In practice that's 2 people.
Plus 1,000 separate card payments, 1,000 receipts to file, and it all comes round again at renewal every year.
Or send us one spreadsheet. PropFiler registers every home for you and pays each fee from one top-up.
Get early accessHow we worked it out
The numbers behind the calculator
Working days. We count Monday to Friday, leaving out bank holidays in England, from today or from 15 December 2026, whichever is later, up to and including your region's deadline. You can register any home in England from 15 December 2026, so starting early gives you more days than your region's own three-month window.
Time per home. The best case is 10 minutes: you're signed in, the gas safety certificate, EICR and EPC are scanned and to hand, there's one owner and the form goes through first time. The worst case is 30 minutes: finding and checking certificates, pulling tenancy and rent details from different places, adding joint owners and redoing the odd form that won't submit.
Full-time staff. We assume one person does 6 hours of form-filling in a working day. The rest goes on breaks, emails and phone calls. Full-time staff needed is the total hours divided by the hours available: 6 for each working day you have left.
Staff cost. The best case is £18 an hour. That's an in-house administrator on about £27,000 a year, the typical advertised pay for lettings administrators outside London, plus 15% employer National Insurance and a 3% pension, spread over the hours they actually work once holidays are taken off. The worst case is £25 an hour, which is roughly what an agency charges for a London temp paid £15 to £16 an hour, after holiday pay, National Insurance and the agency's margin.
Government fees. £65 per home, per year, paid separately for each home, from the GOV.UK Housing Hub. The Regulations charge the fee per home and leave the amount to the database operator. During the rollout the first fee is pro-rated "so that those signing up first don't have to pay more", but the method hasn't been published, so we show the full annual fee. It's the same whoever does the typing, so it's identical in both columns.
Who can do the typing. If you own through a limited company or LLP, you can authorise staff to register homes for the company. If you own homes in your own name, only you or someone with your power of attorney can make the entry. Staff can still gather the documents and details for you.
Worked examples
What registering costs, by portfolio size
These assume you wait for your region's own three-month window, which is about 62 working days, rather than starting on 15 December 2026.
| Homes | Hours | Full-time staff for 62 days | Staff cost | Government fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2 to 5 | under a day | £30 to £125 | £650 |
| 100 | 17 to 50 | under 0.1 to 0.1 | £300 to £1,250 | £6,500 |
| 300 | 50 to 150 | 0.1 to 0.4 | £900 to £3,750 | £19,500 |
| 1,000 | 167 to 500 | 0.4 to 1.3 | £3,000 to £12,500 | £65,000 |
| 5,000 | 833 to 2,500 | 2.2 to 6.7 | £15,000 to £62,500 | £325,000 |
Deadlines from the GOV.UK Housing Hub, checked 24 October 2026. Bank holidays from GOV.UK. Pay from advertised UK lettings administrator and temp admin roles, October 2026.
FAQ
PRS Database cost, fees and time to register
How much will the PRS Database cost me?
The government fee is £65 for each home you let, every year. During the rollout your first payment is pro-rated so registering early doesn't cost more, but the government hasn't published how. On top of that is the time it takes to fill in a form for each home, which at 10 to 30 minutes a home is roughly £3 to £12.50 a home in staff time. For 300 homes that's £19,500 a year at the full fee, though your first payment may be less, and up to £3,750 in staff time.
How long does it take to register on the PRS Database?
Expect 10 to 30 minutes for each home, depending on how organised your certificates and tenancy details are. Registering yourself as a landlord is a one-off on top of that. With 1,000 homes that's 167 to 500 hours, or one person working on nothing else for 6 to 17 weeks.
How many working days do I have to register?
Each region's own window is about three months, which works out at 61 to 65 working days once weekends and bank holidays are taken off. You can register any home in England from 15 December 2026, so starting then gives you more. A South West landlord who starts on day one has 231 working days.
Do I need to hire extra staff to register my properties?
Below about 100 homes, probably not: it's a week or two of one person's time at most. From about 1,000 homes it can be a full-time job for your region's three months, and with 5,000 homes you'd need three to seven people working on nothing else. Starting on 15 December 2026 instead of waiting for your region cuts that, often by more than half. If you own homes in your own name, staff can only prepare the details. You, or someone with your power of attorney, have to make the entry.
Can I register all my properties at once?
Not on the government service. At launch there's no bulk upload, bulk payment or API, so each home is a separate form and a separate card payment. PropFiler registers your whole portfolio from one spreadsheet, an API connection or an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT.
Skip the form-filling
Send PropFiler your homes once, from a spreadsheet, an API or an AI assistant. We register each one on the PRS Database and pay each fee from one top-up.