England's short-let register, what we know.

The register so far	Date
Public consultation closed	Jun 2023
Legal power to create it in force	Dec 2023
Mandatory national scheme confirmed	Feb 2024
User testing began	Oct 2025
Expected start, according to GOV.UK	Mar 2027

Dates from GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk and Hansard, as they stood on 5 October 2026.

Where things stand

On 3 September 2026, an MP asked in the House of Commons when the register would go live. The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, replied that "the register will be up and running in full by March". She said the Prime Minister had asked her to speed the work up.

On 2 October 2026, GOV.UK updated its guidance for self-catering holiday homes in England. It now says the mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets "is expected to begin in March 2027". The same page still marks registration as not yet in force, so there's nothing you can register today.

The date has moved before. On 13 April 2026, the housing minister told MPs the scheme had entered user testing the previous October, ahead of a launch planned for 2026. Treat March 2027 as the expected start, not a fixed one.

Who it will cover

The legal power sits in section 228 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, in force since 26 December 2023. It requires the government to make regulations for registering short-term rental properties in England. The scheme covers England only.

The Act defines a short-term rental property as a home, or part of one, that a host provides to a guest:

• as somewhere other than the guest's only or main home
• in return for payment
• in the course of a trade or business.

The regulations can extend that definition to other kinds of premises.

In February 2024, the government confirmed the scheme would be mandatory, cover all of England and be delivered mainly online. It said 61% of those who answered its 2023 consultation supported that approach. It also said the register won't affect hostels or B&Bs, and that it was still considering a threshold, because it didn't want to place disproportionate rules on owners who let their home only now and then.

What the law allows

Section 228 gives the government wide powers. The regulations can:

• set conditions for registration, and revoke a registration
• charge fees
• prohibit letting or promoting an unregistered short-term let in the course of a business
• enforce the rules through civil sanctions, such as fixed penalties, whether or not the conduct is also a criminal offence.

These are powers, not decisions. The regulations will set out which of them are used, and how.

What isn't confirmed yet

In February 2024, the government said the detailed design would follow: who runs the register, how often you register and what information you give. As of 5 October 2026, it hasn't confirmed those details. The 2023 consultation shows the options it asked about:

• Fees. It proposed that the scheme pays for itself through fees charged to owners or providers, covering its costs and no more.
• Information. It asked whether to collect the address, the owner's and any manager's contact details, and a self-certification that safety rules such as gas, fire and electrical safety are met. It expected that a representative, such as a management company, could submit the information on an owner's behalf.
• Renewal. It asked how long a registration should last, from one year to five, or whether it should be a one-off.
• Listings. One option was "no number, no listing", where platforms would only list a home with a valid registration number. Another was that hosts show the number in their own adverts.
• Penalties. It proposed civil penalties for not complying, and said it had no plans for criminal sanctions.

None of these has been confirmed yet.

What you can do now

The 2023 consultation said the register is meant to drive awareness of, and compliance with, rules that already apply. Those rules are the part you can act on today. GOV.UK's guidance for self-catering homes, as updated on 2 October 2026, lists fire safety, gas and carbon monoxide safety, electrical safety, checking whether you need an Energy Performance Certificate, and insurance that includes public liability cover. Our short-let investing guide covers the gas, electrical, fire and insurance checks in more detail.

It also helps to keep the paperwork in one place: certificates, your fire risk assessment, and a record of the nights the home was available and actually let. The consultation asked whether those nights should be collected. In England, they already help decide whether a home pays business rates or council tax. GOV.UK's business rates guidance, as it stood on 5 October 2026, says that to be valued for business rates a home must, among other tests, have been available to let for short periods for at least 140 nights, and actually let for at least 70, in the last 12 months.

If you're weighing a short let against a long let, registration adds an admin step and, if the 2023 proposals hold, a fee. The investor calculator has a line for compliance costs, so you can add an allowance and compare the two with your own figures.

If we manage your home

Once the scheme opens, Naras Property Management, part of our group, will handle registration for the owners it manages, as far as the final rules let a manager do this for an owner. Read more about full management and guaranteed rent.

Dates can still move. Check GOV.UK for the current position before you rely on March 2027.