Registration for the new Private Rented Sector Database opens on 15 December, with a regional rollout during 2027. Most landlords are likely to approach the looming legal deadline by jumping straight onto the phone to their estate agent. Possibly in panic.
If you thought you were busy now with regular incoming client calls, wait to see what December brings. And it means estate agents need to prepare now with an AI phone receptionist that captures every call, and a phone system that tracks the quality and accuracy of every conversation.
Luckily, Linx has your estate agency covered.
What is the landlord database?
Introduced under the Renters’ Rights Act , the Private Rented Sector Database, or landlord database, was unveiled in September 2026 and will be ready for registration from December.
Under the new regulations, landlords must register on the database and provide the following information:
- Landlord and property details
- Gas Safety Certificate
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
- Electrical Installation Condition Report
On the face of it, this shouldn’t present a significant problem in terms of paperwork. However, it could present a challenge in terms of phone calls for the estate agencies serving the landlord sector. Moreover, there are compliance issues to anticipate.
Why every call is a compliance test
Most estate agents already have a firm grasp of current regulations, but there’s no guarantee that landlords are equally up to speed. Many will simply ring their agent for guidance. That in itself could mean a sudden surge in incoming call volumes from early December onwards.
More concerning is the potential compliance risk. A casual comment made on a call can mutate into a long-term misunderstanding, while an inadvertent error could be isolated as the source of a costly mistake. In short, estate agents are on solid ground when they have verified records of each conversation to refer to.
Expect these kinds of calls
“Do I need to register?”
“What’s my deadline?”
“What documents do I need?”
“Do you have my EPC on file?”
“Has this happened yet or is it still coming?”
Is your estate agency ready for landlord database calls?
In the first instance, minimise disruption by preparing the answers to the most common questions in advance. That’s the simplest solution to have each agent giving consistent, accurate replies. It means your agency only has to address the issue once, not with each new enquiry.
Embed compliance in the database thereafter by having a record of who has asked what, and when. Because the database is rolling out across each region in phases, there’s the added complexity of tracking who is up to date, and who has yet to run through the essentials.
Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the landlord to register. However, there’s an opportunity for any agency to burnish their credentials as a trusted first-point of contact for industry expertise.
How Linx AI phone system can help your estate agency prepare
With Linx, agencies already have the suite of tools they need to meet the challenge of answering landlord database enquiries. There’s no extra process to learn.
These tools are on hand to complement your client service delivery:
Call recording and transcription
Saved automatically to the CRM, your teams can review the complete recording for each recent landlord conversation. Use the keyword search to see if landlord database registration has been mentioned, and view the call summary and performance analysis to assess if information was shared correctly. The sentiment analysis tool even allows you to check if the conversation ended with a satisfied or confused landlord.
Tagging and next steps
Consider all the landlords in your database, across multiple regions for larger agencies. Would you be able to see with a single search which ones have been briefed on their landlord database responsibilities?
Call tagging allows you to tag each landlord you’ve briefed, while next steps tagging lets you assign further actions for those you have yet to talk to, or those who require more information. It’s a time-saving tool for proactive follow-ups as the deadlines near.
Missed call capture
Finally, the AI receptionist platform means your agency has the capacity to handle the sheer volume of incoming calls – at any moment. Whether it’s set to answer all calls (e.g. out of hours) or to pick up the call overflow during busy periods, the voice receptionist means you’re feeding contact details into the CRM rather than spending hours cross-referencing missed call numbers or listening through voicemail messages.
If you suspect that you’ll struggle to handle a surge of calls in the next few months, or just want to explore a more efficient, productive way to manage your incoming calls, now is the time to act. Get in touch today to book your one-to-one walkthrough of Linx AI phone system.
