Running a lettings agency means keeping a lot of plates spinning at once: applicants and viewings, referencing, tenancy agreements, deposit protection, rent runs, arrears chasing, repairs, and a steady stream of certificates and compliance paperwork. Plenty of agencies do all of that on software that fights them at every step. Generic platforms make you bend your business around their workflow, and you pay every month for the privilege of working around them.
We build custom lettings agency software around the way your agency actually works. We’re a small UK consultancy, and we work mostly with SMEs that want to own their software outright instead of renting it forever. The system we build for you is yours, and it changes as your business does.
Where off-the-shelf lettings software falls short
Most agencies pick a generic package and then spend the next few years discovering its edges:
- Per-user pricing that punishes growth. Many platforms charge per seat, so every hire raises the bill. A 20-person agency can find itself paying well over £10,000 a year before add-ons, which quietly makes headcount a software-budget decision.
- Features you need on day one sold as extras. Tenant referencing, AML checks and accounting sync are often separate modules, so the headline price is rarely the real price.
- Opinionated workflows you can’t change. Fixed tenancy approval chains and generic commission logic mean exceptions get handled by manual override, or by a spreadsheet kept alongside the system.
- Weak integrations. Tenant details get typed into the CRM, then re-typed into the AML platform. Rent shows one figure in the bank, another in the accounts, and a third on the landlord portal until someone reconciles it by hand.
- Scattered compliance. AML records sit in one tool, certificates in another, GDPR consent in email. When an audit comes, there is no single trail to point at.
- Support that doesn’t know UK lettings. An offshore helpdesk that has never heard of the Tenant Fees Act or prescribed information is little help when a compliance question lands.
The real cost isn’t the monthly invoice. It’s the hours lost to duplicate entry, the finance team’s month-end reconciliation, and the compliance gaps that turn into fines, with Gas Safety breaches starting around £6,000 and Right to Rent penalties up to £15,000.
What we do differently
We start by mapping how your agency works, from first enquiry through to deposit return, and then build software that fits that. No retraining your team on someone else’s idea of a workflow.
You pay once and own the result. There are no per-user licences and no annual price rises, and the system can scale with your team and portfolio without the bill jumping every time you hire.
UK compliance is built in rather than bolted on: Right to Rent verification with expiry tracking, deposit protection and prescribed-information logging across the schemes (TDS, MyDeposits, DPS), automated reminders for Gas Safety and EPC renewals, and a full audit trail of who changed what and when. The build is modular, so adding things later, like a tenant portal or automated arrears chasing, doesn’t mean starting over.
To be straight about it: bespoke software is not the right answer for every agency. A single-office agency under roughly 50 properties with standard workflows is often well served by an off-the-shelf platform, and a self-hosted open-source CRM can work for budget-conscious teams that have the technical support to run it. We are happy to help you pick and set one of those up. A custom build earns its place when per-user fees mount, your business rules don’t fit a generic product, or you need integrations and data ownership a SaaS contract won’t give you.
Features we build
Every system covers the core of running a lettings agency, then adapts to what your agency needs:
- Property and tenancy management covering listings, availability, tenancy agreements with e-signature, move-in and move-out, and renewal tracking, organised by branch or area where you run multiple offices.
- Applicant management from enquiry through viewing, application and offer, with referencing results pulled in rather than re-keyed.
- Rent collection and arrears with payment matching, an arrears dashboard aged the way you want it (7, 14, 28, 90+ days), and chasing that triggers automatically at the intervals you set.
- Rent runs and landlord statements with commission calculated to your rules, including tiered or property-type-based structures that generic accounting tools struggle with.
- A landlord portal where owners see their properties, rent received, statements and performance, and can send instructions without phoning in.
- A maintenance hub that logs repair requests, dispatches contractors, tracks quotes and costs, and keeps tenants updated through to sign-off.
- Compliance tracking for Gas Safety, EPC, EICR and Right to Rent, with reminders before expiry and proof that documents were delivered to the tenant.
- GDPR tooling built in: consent records, retention schedules, audit trails and one-click subject access request export.
- Reporting on the lettings pipeline, arrears recovery, agent performance, vacancy rates and landlord profitability, built to your spec.
- Mobile access for inspections, photo capture, viewings and status updates on the move.
- Role-based permissions so agents, finance, contractors and landlords each see only what they should.
How the build works
It usually goes like this:
- Discovery and planning, 2 to 3 weeks. Workshops to document how you work now, the data you hold, and what’s worth automating first.
- Development, 8 to 12 weeks. We build in two-week sprints with regular demos, so you can react as the system takes shape rather than waiting for a big reveal.
- Data migration, in parallel. We extract, clean and map data from your current system. This is the part that most often runs late industry-wide, usually because of dirty legacy data, so we treat it seriously and test loads early.
- Testing and rollout, 2 to 4 weeks. User acceptance testing, then a phased switchover. We keep read-only access to your old system available for a while so nothing feels lost.
- Training and support, ongoing. Role-based training for agents, finance and compliance staff, plus a UK support contact.
Most projects run 3 to 6 months end to end, depending on scope. We deliberately keep the first release tight, core tenancy management, rent collection and a landlord portal, then add referencing, AML, compliance tracking and reporting in later phases. Over-customising everything before go-live is one of the more common ways these projects stall.
What it costs
Custom development costs more up front than a SaaS subscription. Over a few years the comparison usually shifts:
- No recurring per-user fees and no annual price increases, which on per-seat platforms commonly run 5-10% a year.
- No hidden module costs for referencing, AML or accounting sync, and no per-transaction cut of rent collected.
- Workflows tailored to your agency, which cut the manual workarounds and the compliance mistakes that get expensive.
- A business asset you own, worth more each time you add to it, with no vendor lock-in or data export fees if priorities change.
As a rough guide, a core build covering tenancy management, rent collection and a landlord portal typically sits around £25,000 to £40,000. Adding compliance workflows, AML integration, agent portals and reporting moves it into the £40,000 to £70,000 range. Costs depend on the features and integrations you need, and a free consultation gets you a real estimate for your situation rather than a guess.
Who this works for
We build variations of this for:
- Residential lettings agencies automating the tenancy lifecycle from viewing to checkout
- HMO and student accommodation providers handling room-level occupancy, multiple deposit schemes and heavier statutory compliance
- Multi-branch agencies needing centralised oversight with branch-level reporting
- Build-to-rent and institutional operators running large portfolios with audit-grade reporting
- Serviced apartment and holiday let operators with non-standard lease terms and frequent changeovers
- Corporate and relocation lettings with multi-entity billing and employer-facing portals
- Property investment firms wanting portfolio performance analytics
- Agency groups and franchises enforcing brand standards while allowing local variation
- Estate agents with combined sales and lettings workflows on one platform
If you’re outgrowing spreadsheets, watching per-user fees climb, or patching a system that doesn’t fit, a conversation costs nothing. We’ll give you a straight view of whether a custom build is worth it, or whether an off-the-shelf option would serve you better.
Common Questions About Custom Lettings Agency Software
How does the cost of a custom build compare to SaaS?
A custom build costs more up front, but there are no per-user licences and no annual price rises. Per-user SaaS gets expensive as you grow: a 20-person agency on a per-seat platform can pay £15,000-£24,000 a year, with hidden costs for AML integrations, reporting tools and priority support adding another 10-20% on top. A bespoke build is a one-off cost, typically £25,000-£70,000 for a working system depending on scope. For agencies with 15+ staff, predicted growth or unusual workflows, the maths usually favours owning it. We will give you an honest view of which side of that line you sit on.
What's the typical development timeline?
A core system covering tenancy management, rent collection and a landlord portal usually takes 3-4 months. Adding compliance workflows, AML integration, agent portals and reporting pushes it to 5-6 months. We deliver in two-week sprints with regular demos, and the core functionality is often usable before the full build is finished, so you are not waiting on everything at once.
How do you handle updates and changes after launch?
All clients get a period of included support after go-live to settle the system in and fix anything that surfaces under real use. After that you can take a maintenance plan for ongoing changes and improvements, or use us on an ad-hoc basis. Because you own the code, you are never forced into an upgrade or a new pricing tier.
Can you integrate with our existing systems?
Yes. Common connections include accounting (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage), payments and rent collection (Stripe, GoCardless), property portals (Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket), AML and ID checks (SmartSearch, Credas, Thirdfort), tenant referencing providers and e-signature tools. Where a system has no usable API we can often bridge it, so a legacy platform you still rely on does not have to be ripped out on day one.
What about data security and compliance?
We build to UK GDPR standards with full audit trails, consent tracking and subject access request export as standard, and we can align the build to ISO 27001 controls where institutional landlords require it. The system handles the UK lettings essentials: Right to Rent records, deposit protection and prescribed information, Gas Safety and EPC reminders, and AML record retention. UK data residency is the default.
Is custom software the right choice for a small agency?
Not always, and we will tell you if it is not. A single-office agency under roughly 50 properties with standard workflows is often well served by an off-the-shelf platform or a self-hosted open-source CRM, and we can help you choose and set one of those up. A custom build earns its place when per-user fees are mounting, your commission or approval rules do not fit a generic product, you need deep integration with existing tools, or you want to own your data and roadmap outright.