Landlord Products / Services
I’ve been looking around for Landlord/Property Management software that handle small to medium sized property portfolios for private landlords, just to make life a little bit more organised for myself. I figured it couldn’t hurt.
Needless to say, a few Google searches later and I realised that there are plenty to choose from, and new packages are continuously being made available, so there’s a small issue of cutting through the shit in order to find anything useful.
Tricky!
So, which is the best landlord management software?
Table of contents
- What does Landlord Management Software actually do?
- Recommended Paid Landlord Management Software
- Free Landlord Management Software
- Why & When Landlord Management Software?
- Other useful Tools
- Landlord software to avoid
- Any other recommendations?
What does Landlord Management Software actually do?
Firstly, let me tell you what they’re supposed to do: save you time and money when managing your rental property(ies).
There are various different types of Landlord/Property Management softwares available, but by and large, most landlords use them for accounting (i.e. tracking expenses), setting reminders, and data storage (i.e. a central place to store all your documents, like tenancy agreements, EPC’s and gas safety certificates).
Almost all [respectable] landlord software will help with the following:
- Property details storage
- Tenant details storage
- Tenant & Rent Management
- Legal Document Centre
- Contact & Supplier Management
- Online Storage (for documents)
- Accounting/Property Expense Management
- Record expenses, including repeat expenses
- Mortgage & Loan Management
- Tax reports
- Detailed income tax liability report
As said, there are a buttload of solutions to choose from, so I’m not going to bombard you with all them, because I don’t see the usefulness in that. Instead, I’m just going to mention the few that I think will best serve the average landlord with a small to moderate sized portfolio…
Recommended Paid Landlord Management Software
Good for storing documents, key details of property & tenancy, and complete accounting solutions!
| Software | Price from | Notes / Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
Software Top Pick | Price from £19.97Ex VATPer month 14 days Free Trial. No payment details required to sign up. | Notes / IncludesCloud-based solution, great for the Everyday & Portfolio Landlords with 1- 500+ tenancies!Landlord Vision is a cloud based solution, designed for people who want to be able to access their account from any device and location. It relies on internet connection. Key features
Landlord Vision is subscription based with no minimum term contract. The subscription is based on the number of tenancies you need to manage so you don’t need to pay for more than you need. One of the most popular landlord software out there; the feature list is immense!! It’s my personal favourite (here’s my Landlord Vision review), and it’s the only landlord property management software recommended by the National Landlord Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA). Landlord Vision is an online cloud-based property management software tool. You can access it from any web connected device. The software produces reports that show cash flow, rental income, expense, taxation and equity reports. There’s also plenty of videos on the website so you can see exactly how it works. | More Info |
Software | Price £29.97Ex VATPer month £397Ex VATOne off payment | Notes / IncludesDesktop software, great for the Portfolio landlords & Letting Agents!If you don’t want a cloud based application, and would prefer traditional desktop software, this is the one for you! This is a complete property management system for managing rents & tenants, designed for people who like to install the software directly to their PC, laptop or server (on Windows OS) and back up their data locally. You can see how this package works by going to the Property Portfolio Software Website and clicking on the “demo” button. Key features
Landlords Property Manager can be purchased outright (with a 90 day money back guarantee) or on a monthly subscription basis (no minimum term contract). | More Info |
Free Landlord Management Software
Good for storing key details of property & tenancy, and basic expense tracking and features!
To give you the choice, and because I appreciate not everyone wants to splash out on landlord/property management systems, here are some of the free options available.
Fair warning, you generally really do get what you pay for, and that will be apparent when you take a look at the following websites- they’re not exactly ‘pretty’…
However, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from trying them out, the freebies…
| Software | Price | Notes / Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
Software | Price Free | Notes / IncludesOnline landlord software, suitable for landlords with a small portfolio!I’ve actually tried PropertyHawk’s free software. It was ok, but a little too old school for my likings. I found it hard work; there are a lot of cumbersome forms to fill in, so it made simple things like adding a new property/tenant a tedius task. Most of the forms could have been combined into one page, saving a lot of time. Not a particularly user-friendly experience. But it’s free, and it works, it also generates a lot of useful landlord forms e.g Tenancy Agreements. Can’t really complain. But alas, I will. According to the owners, it’s the best landlord software in the world…probably. Yeah, I’m not sure about that. | More Info |
Software | Price Free | Notes / IncludesOnline landlord software, suitable for landlords with 1 – 10 propertiesAnother web-based application which offers a free service, amongst premium versions which come at a cost. But the free version is perfect for single landlords with 1 – 10 properties. I’ve not used it, but there appears to be a load of features. You can see details and screenshots on the Smart Property Manager Feature Page. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look very user-friendly or modern either. A common trend among the freebies, which isn’t surprising. | More Info |
Why & When Landlord Management Software?
Back in the day, I used to use simple Landlord Management Excel Spreadsheet, but the flaws quickly became apparent as my portfolio started to expand and I required more features.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think using a spreadsheet is perfectly plausible for anyone managing one or two rental properties and doesn’t demand many features beyond tracking basic transactions.
However, if you demand more features, control and transparency, like forecasting, automated tax calculations using HMRC guidelines (extremely useful), financial reporting, tenant management, repairs & maintenance management, then it’s probably time to ditch the spreadsheet and make the upgrade to a specialist piece of kit.
Making Tax Digital (incoming change to the UK tax system)
So while I believe most landlords will be absolutely fine without using a dedicated software to help track their finances, I suspect many will be inclined to make the jump due to incoming changes to the UK Tax system.
I actually wasn’t going to discuss this in this blog post, but I was reminded of it when highlighting the key features of Landlord Vision (one of their selling points is that they will be compatible with Making Tax Digital (MTD)). And actually, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it, because it’s probably one of the most appealing reasons to use landlord software (if you don’t use an accountant, that is).
From 6th April 2026, the Making Tax Digital system will be launched.
The simplest explanation of Making Tax Digital is that the tax system in the UK is moving away from paper tax returns and instead wants to make it compulsory for individuals and businesses to submit income and expense data digitally.
As per this article on uklandlordtax.co.uk:
Making Tax Digital (MTD) applies to all landlords, self-employed and partnerships.
There are 2 key requirements for MTD and these are to keep all transaction records digitally and to use a specific software to submit returns to HMRC.
Previously, taxpayers will have had to submit annual tax returns by sending a paper version by post to HMRC directly or electronically via their Government Gateway account. However, with the new MTD system, all transactions will be recorded digitally and quarterly returns must be submitted using specific MTD software which will electronically link bookkeeping records into HMRC’s MTD computers.
Update (19th December 2022): Making Tax Digital was originally meant to be start on the 6th April 2024 and was only applicable to those that have an annual business or property income of more than £10,000, but it’s appears that the powers that be have deemed it necessary to move the goal posts. As per the latest Gov guidelines:
You need to follow the requirements for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if you are self-employed or a landlord from:
- 6 April 2026 if you have an annual business or property income of more than £50,000
- April 2027 if you have an annual business or property income of more than £30,000
In short, you have more time to get in line if the Making Tax Digital applies to you (which it won’t for many landlords, due to the £30k threshold).
Either way, I still believe using proper software would be an efficient upgrade to managing finances for anyone that currently isn’t, so don’t let the delay discourage you. The benefits of going digital in this instance is certainly plentiful.
If you use an accountant, they should already be on top of this and prepared (but you should check just to be sure).
For more information, here’s the Gov’s overview of making tax digital.
The final “why“, landlord software is tax deductible :)
Other useful Tools
| Software | Price | Notes / Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
Software | Price Free | Notes / IncludesAutomatic renewal service reminder for landlordsThis is pretty cool. So, Landlord-market.co.uk is a free tool will remind you when your landlord services and utilities (e.g. EPC, Gas Safety Certificates, Tenancy Agreements etc.) will expire, and then they will send you an automated reminder, leaving you plenty of time to make renewal arrangements. They will also send you ONE recommended supplier (based on price and reputation) for every expiring service, so you don’t have to shop around. The main feature is the automated reminder service, and the recommended services is just an added bonus (which you are not obligated to use). | More Info |
Landlord software to avoid
I learned this lesson through personal experience and I think it’s worth sharing, because it highlights an important point that often gets overlooked.
As I mentioned in the intro, there isn’t a shortage of landlord software. In fact, there’s an oversupply, yet there are still new products being launched regularly, with even more in development as we speak.
In any case, I would personally avoid getting lured in by newly launched landlord software solutions. Why? Imagine data-feeding an application with accounting information for several months (or even worse, a couple of years) and then for the service to get shut down because it doesn’t take off.
That happened to a software I once very briefly promoted several years ago – it quickly went pop soon after launch, despite it having some great features.
The problem with start-up companies is that no one knows how successful or sustainable they will be. They don’t even know.
Lesson learned.
So now I NEVER promote or mention any new products regardless of how appealing they are, because the odds of them being around in a few years time are slim (the market for all these products isn’t big enough, so logic dictates they won’t all survive). The ones I have mentioned were all founded over several years ago.
Any other recommendations?
If anyone is aware of any other product, please let me know, and I’ll add it to the list.
Also, if anyone has had any experience with any of the above, or similar products, please let me know! I’d love to hear your recommendations. But please, if you leave any feedback, make it useful and informative (e.g. specify why it’s good/bad), don’t just recommend a product for your own personal gain- because the comment will be removed.
Please refer to Angelina’s comment (comment #69) for a good example of “useful”
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
Has anyone tried Tenantcloud? Their website says it's free and I love the concept, but I would like to hear feedback from a current user.