The agent calls the landlord "a lovely professional landlord" and the landlord calls the agent "my guys". Neither has told you a surname. You are about to hand over a month's rent plus five weeks' deposit to someone you met for nine minutes on a doorstep. The registers can tell you more about them than the viewing did, in less time.
How do I find out who owns the property?
Start with HM Land Registry. Search the address on the GOV.UK title register service and pay £7. It gives you the registered owner's name, their address for service, whether the title is freehold or leasehold, and any mortgage lender. If the owner is a person, compare the name with what the agent told you. If the owner is a company, put it into Companies House, which is free: it shows the directors, the registered office, the filing history and whether the accounts are overdue or the company is being struck off.
Two things to notice. If the title is leasehold, the landlord is a tenant of somebody else, and their lease may need the freeholder's consent to sublet [check: freeholder]. And if the name on the title is not the name taking your money, ask why. There are honest reasons, and there are other reasons.
What is the landlord database, and when does it start?
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 creates a national private rented sector database. Every private landlord in England will have to register themselves and each property. The database opens on 15 December 2026, region by region, through to late 2027. A rule requiring registration before a property is marketed will follow later. Once the advertising rules start, a listing should carry landlord and property reference numbers. The government has said tenants will be able to check some key details, but exactly what will be public has not been confirmed. Until it opens, the checks below are how you find the same information the hard way.
What else can I look up today?
London has the Mayor's Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker, which lists landlords and agents fined or prosecuted by participating boroughs. Outside London, search the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) decisions for the landlord's name: rent repayment orders are made when a landlord has let an unlicensed HMO or unlawfully evicted someone, and the decisions are public and name names.
Then the council. If the house has five or more people from two or more households it needs an HMO licence, and many councils run additional or selective licensing schemes covering ordinary flats in certain wards. The council's public register shows whether this address is licensed and who holds the licence. A landlord operating without one tends to end up in the tribunal decisions above.
For the agent, check they belong to a redress scheme (the Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme) and a client money protection scheme, both legally required in England. The scheme websites let you search by agent name. An agent not in one is trading unlawfully.
What can't I check, and what should I ask for instead?
Some things only exist after you have paid, so you have to ask. Deposit protection happens within 30 days of the landlord receiving your deposit, so before you pay you can only ask which of the three schemes they use. Ask for the current gas safety certificate, which must be renewed every year and given to you before you move in, and the electrical installation condition report, which lasts five years. Ask for the EPC, which must be band E or better to let [check: epc]. Ask the landlord to confirm in writing that they are the registered owner or have the owner's authority to let. The honest ones will find these questions boring, which is the reaction you want. See [check: landlord] and [ask: questions-to-ask-when-viewing].
How Eavesdrop checks this
Eavesdrop reads the Land Registry title for the registered owner and lease status, Companies House for company landlords, the council's HMO and selective licensing registers, First-tier Tribunal decisions and the London Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker for the landlord and agent named on the listing, and the redress and client money protection scheme registers for the agent. Every finding is cited. Before you sign. Eavesdrop.
Quick answers
How do I check who owns a property in the UK? Search the address on HM Land Registry's title register service and pay £7. The register shows the owner's name, whether the title is freehold or leasehold, and any mortgage. Scotland uses Registers of Scotland instead.
How do I check if my landlord is legitimate? Compare the Land Registry owner with the name you were given, search Companies House if it is a company, check the council's licensing register, and search First-tier Tribunal decisions and the London Rogue Landlord Checker for their name.
Do landlords have to be registered? Not yet in England. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 creates a landlord database that opens on 15 December 2026, region by region. Registering before a property is marketed will become a requirement later, once further rules are made.
Sources: HM Land Registry title register; Companies House; Renters' Rights Act 2025; Housing Act 2004 (HMO licensing); First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) published decisions.
