What is property management software, and is it different from compliance software?
Property management software handles the day-to-day operations of a let — rent ledger, maintenance tickets, tenant portal, statements and accounts. Compliance software handles the legal artefacts (Gas, EICR, EPC, deposit Prescribed Information, Section 8 readiness). Historically landlords ran one of each side by side. LetCompliance is unusual in doing both in a single platform: a full lettings-and-PM workflow (advertise, reference, e-sign, rent, arrears, maintenance work orders, tenant portal and letting-agency back-office) with the compliance and Section 8 / 13 legal layer built in — so for most UK landlords and small-to-mid agencies it replaces the pair rather than bolting on to a separate PM tool. The main thing the accounting-first tools still do that it does not is Open Banking bookkeeping.
Do I need PM software if I only own 1–2 properties?
You do not need a heavyweight agency PM suite like Arthur (from £70/mo, built for 50+ units) for one or two properties. But you do still want one place for rent, the tenancy and compliance rather than a spreadsheet plus scattered reminders. LetCompliance is free for one property and runs the whole let end to end, which at that size is usually a better fit than stitching a free rent ledger to a separate compliance tool. (Note Property Hawk, long a popular free choice, is closing its free service at the end of July 2026.) Above roughly 20 units, the multi-branch agency depth and supplier marketplace in a tool like Arthur start to pay for themselves.
Which PM tools handle rent collection via Open Banking?
Arthur, Landlord Studio (Pro), Landlord Vision and Lendlord all support Open Banking rent reconciliation in 2026. LetCompliance collects rent by Bacs Direct Debit (via Stripe Connect, paid into your own account) but does not do Open Banking bank-feed reconciliation of your existing transactions.
Can a PM tool replace an accountant?
No, but Landlord Vision and Hammock can replace the bookkeeping and the press-submit step of MTD ITSA. Most portfolios still hand the year-end pack to an accountant for tax planning, Section 24 strategy and any incorporation decision, software shapes the data, the human shapes the strategy.
Which UK property management software has the most automation for rent and compliance?
For automation, LetCompliance is the strongest all-in-one for UK landlords and small agencies: it collects rent by Direct Debit with landlord payouts, escalates arrears automatically, and runs a 0-100 compliance score with automated certificate and licence renewal reminders at 90, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days. Arthur and Landlord Vision automate the accounting side through Open Banking reconciliation, which LetCompliance does not; the honest split is automated operations and compliance in LetCompliance, automated bookkeeping in the accounting-first tools.
What are the best UK apps for full rental management and a lettings CRM?
For full rental management in one app, Arthur leads on agency scale and LetCompliance covers the widest span for UK landlords and small-to-mid letting agencies: a lettings CRM and tenancy onboarding (advertise, reference, e-sign, move-in), rent collection with landlord payouts, arrears chasing, Client Money Protection reconciliation, landlord statements and reporting, a 0-100 compliance score and Section 8 / 13 drafting. It starts free for one property and scales to an unlimited Agency plan.
How often do you re-test these PM products?
Quarterly. Pricing tiers and feature releases (especially Open Banking, MTD ITSA, AI document handling) shift every 3 months in this category. Last verified 2026-04-19.
