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Home / Guides / Buying or renting a home (NI)

Buying or renting a home in Northern Ireland

Housing · Northern Ireland•📖 4 min read•Updated 11 October 2026
The short answerBy law, all private landlords in Northern Ireland must register with the Landlord Registration Scheme, and you can check whether yours has. If you fall out with your landlord, a free mediation service can help before anything goes to court.
PZak Carolan · The People's PocketChecked against nidirect: Landlord Registration Scheme, 11 October 2026

If you are buying, Land & Property Services runs the registers that show who owns a property and its history.

Quick facts

Landlords
Must register: £70 online, £80 on paper
Unregistered landlord?
Ask your council to investigate
Disputes
Free mediation service
Property certificate
£88 for one property
Land Registry search
£5 a folio

Landlords must register

All landlords who let properties under a private tenancy in Northern Ireland must register. You can search the register to see if a landlord is registered. If you live in private rented accommodation and your landlord isn’t registered with the scheme, you can ask the local council to investigate.

Landlords pay one fee to register all their properties: £70.00 online, or £80.00 on paper.

Free mediation for landlords and tenants

Going to court isn’t the only way to resolve issues and is often costly and takes time. A free mediation service is available to private landlords and tenants, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Checking a property before you buy

Land Registry is a record of land, houses and properties registered in Northern Ireland, run by Land & Property Services. You can see previous owners, rights and charges from the date the property was first registered. Inspecting a folio, map or instrument costs £5.00.

The Registry of Deeds covers land that is not in the Land Registry. A regional property certificate for a single property is £88.

For Stamp Duty Land Tax on a leasehold property, use HMRC's Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator.

Common questions

Do landlords have to register in Northern Ireland?

Yes. All private landlords must register with the Landlord Registration Scheme.

Is there free help with a landlord dispute?

Yes. A free mediation service is available to private landlords and tenants.

Sources, read 11 October 2026. Every figure and rule on this page comes from one of these official pages. If one changes, this page is wrong until we fix it — tell us and we will.

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