Check the landlord

Rogue landlord database: can you check a landlord?

England’s national Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents exists, but renters can’t search it: only councils and the government can. You can still check a lot yourself. In London, the Mayor’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker is public, and anywhere you can search tribunal decisions, licensing registers, Companies House and who owns the home.

England only · Checked against GOV.UK on 23 October 2026 · Independent, not a government service

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What the rogue landlord database is

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 set up a national database of landlords and letting agents who have broken the law. It has been running since April 2018. Councils add the entries, and the Act gives access to councils and the government only. The government can publish figures from it, but only in a form that doesn’t identify anyone.

A council must add a landlord or agent who gets a banning order on its application.
A council may add someone convicted of a banning order offence.
A council may add someone given two or more financial penalties for banning order offences within 12 months.

So even if you could search it, it would only show the most serious cases a council chose to record.

What changes with the new landlord database

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 creates the Private Rented Sector Database, where landlords must register themselves and their homes. Under draft regulations, registration opens region by region from 15 December 2026. The Act also lets councils record banning orders, offences and financial penalties against landlords there, and lets the government decide which of those records the public can see. If they are made public, it can’t be until at least 21 days after the entry is made.

No date has been published for when renters can search the new database, or what they will see. Until then, there is no public national record of rogue landlords. Our guide to the PRS database has the rollout, and checking if a landlord is registered covers what exists in the meantime.

What you can check instead

London: the Mayor’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker: Lists private landlords and letting agents in London who have been prosecuted or fined for housing offences, with the type of action, the offence, any fine and the date. It also carries action by the London Fire Brigade and by the two letting agent redress schemes. All London councils have agreed to take part, but some records are only shared between councils, and entries come off after a set time.
Tribunal decisions on GOV.UK: The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) publishes its decisions on housing cases in England from December 2018, and you can search them by keyword. Banning orders and rent repayment orders are decided there, so a landlord’s or agent’s name can turn up in a decision.
The council’s licensing register: Councils must keep a public register of the homes they have licensed. If the home needs a licence, the register shows whether it has one and who holds it. A council won’t license someone it doesn’t think is a fit and proper person.
Companies House: If the landlord or agent is a company, Companies House shows free whether it is active, its directors and its filing history. A dissolved company, or one being wound up, is a warning sign.
HM Land Registry: The title register names who owns the home, for £7 online. It tells you whether the person letting it to you is the owner or has some link to them.
The agent’s redress and client money schemes: Every letting agent in England must belong to a government-approved redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme). An agent who holds tenants’ money must also be in a client money protection scheme and show the certificate. Check membership on the scheme’s own website.

Use the Mayor of London’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker, GOV.UK’s Residential Property Tribunal decisions, our property licence checker and HMO licence guide, and how to find the landlord of a property. Our landlord check looks up a landlord or agent company on Companies House free.

Banning orders and rent repayment orders

A banning order stops someone letting homes in England, working as a letting agent or managing property, for at least 12 months. Only the First-tier Tribunal can make one, on a council’s application, after the person is convicted of a banning order offence. Those offences include illegal eviction and harassment, serious housing, fire safety and gas safety offences, fraud, and some violent and drug offences. Breaking a ban is a crime, and the council can instead fine the person up to £40,000.

A rent repayment order makes a landlord pay back rent. You can apply to the First-tier Tribunal yourself if your landlord has committed certain offences, including illegal eviction or harassment, letting a home that needed a licence without one, or breaching a banning order.

Can I search the rogue landlord database?

No. The Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents is run by the government for councils. The law gives access to councils and the government, and lets the government share only anonymised figures with anyone else. There is no search for renters.

How do I check if a landlord is blacklisted?

There is no single public blacklist in England. In London, use the Mayor’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker. Anywhere, search tribunal decisions on GOV.UK for the landlord’s or agent’s name, check the council’s licensing register if the home needs a licence, and look up a company landlord on Companies House.

Is there a list of banned landlords?

Not a public one. Banning orders go on the national rogue landlord database, which only councils and the government can see. Banning orders are made by the First-tier Tribunal, which publishes its decisions, and London’s checker shows banning orders made by London councils that share their records.

Who goes on the rogue landlord database?

A council must add a landlord or agent who gets a banning order on its application. It may also add someone convicted of a banning order offence, or given two or more financial penalties for such offences within 12 months. An entry from a banning order lasts as long as the ban.

What is a banning order?

An order from the First-tier Tribunal that bans someone from letting homes in England, working as a letting agent, or managing property, or more than one of these. A council can apply after the person is convicted of a banning order offence, such as illegal eviction, harassment, or a serious housing, fire safety or gas safety offence. A ban lasts at least 12 months.

What is a rent repayment order?

An order from the First-tier Tribunal that makes a landlord pay back rent. Tenants can apply when a landlord has committed certain offences, including illegal eviction or harassment, letting a home that needed a licence without one, and breaching a banning order. For an offence from 1 May 2026, it can cover up to 24 months of rent; before then the limit was 12 months.

Will the new landlord database show rogue landlords?

Maybe. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 lets councils record banning orders, offences and financial penalties against landlords on the new Private Rented Sector Database, and lets the government decide which of those records the public can see. What renters will see, and when, has not been published.

If a landlord isn’t on any list, are they safe?

Not necessarily. A record only exists where a council has prosecuted or fined someone, and records come off after a time. A clean search means nothing has been found, not that the landlord is good. Check who owns the home, the licence and the deposit protection as well.

Before you pay anything

Rogue landlord records only cover people a council has acted against. They won’t catch a fake landlord: someone who takes a holding deposit for a home they can’t let you have. Check that the person letting the home is connected to it, and know the signs of a rental scam, before you hand over money or documents.

Where this comes from

The Housing and Planning Act 2016: Part 2, Chapter 3 (the rogue landlord database), Part 2, Chapter 2 (banning orders) and sections 40 and 44 (rent repayment orders); the Banning Order Offences Regulations 2018; and GOV.UK’s guidance on the database for councils. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025, sections 83, 86 and 94. The Mayor of London’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker, GOV.UK’s tribunal decisions, redress schemes and client money protection pages, Companies House and HM Land Registry.

General information, not legal advice. RenterCheck is independent and not connected with the government, any council or the Greater London Authority.

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