Best Accounting Software UK Landlords 2026

The best accounting software for a UK landlord in 2026 is software on HMRC’s Making Tax Digital list that fits how you own your properties: a landlord-specific tool such as Hammock, Landlord Vision or LetCompliance for lets in your own name, and a full accounting package such as Xero or FreeAgent for a limited company. From 6 April 2026, a landlord whose qualifying income (self-employment and property income before expenses) was over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 must keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC from that software; the threshold is over £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. The rules are called Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA).

So in 2026-27 only landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 must use MTD software: HMRC-recognised software, or a bridging tool that connects to a spreadsheet.

This guide compares five options UK landlords use in 2026: Hammock, Landlord Vision, Xero, FreeAgent, and QuickBooks. It looks at MTD readiness, landlord-specific features, bank feeds and verdicts by portfolio size.

A quick steer: if you want accounting only, an accounting-first tool such as Hammock or Xero fits. If you want the rent, the tenancies and the tax in one platform, LetCompliance runs the whole let and sends the Making Tax Digital updates from the same records, from £7.99 a month, a different category explained below. LetCompliance imports a portfolio from a spreadsheet, including each property’s value, mortgage balance, ownership share and tax treatment, so a landlord with several properties has equity, loan to value and the tax split worked out from the first day.

The 5 options at a glance

Prices were read on each provider’s own site on 24 September 2026, and all six were on HMRC’s software list that day. Prices change, so check each provider’s site. *LetCompliance is an all-in-one landlord platform, not a pure accounting tool: it is recognised by HMRC and sends MTD quarterly updates for UK property income, and submits the tax return only when UK property is the only income you need to add and you have no earlier-year property loss, or capital allowance beyond a car, to claim. It doesn’t file limited-company accounts.

A different category: LetCompliance, the whole tenancy in one login

The five tools above are accounting-first. LetCompliance is not a pure accounting tool. It runs the let itself (the advert, the tenancy, the rent and the certificates) and produces the tax figures from that record. That puts it in a different category, and it’s worth knowing about if you’d rather keep all of it in one place than stitch separate tools together.

Best for: landlords and letting agents with one property or a portfolio, who want the rent, the tenancies and the tax figures in one login, not just the books. An agency adds client money reconciliation and monthly landlord statements with the letting agent software at £129 a month.

Strengths:

• One login for the whole let: advertising, applications, tenant referencing, viewings and holding deposits, e-signed tenancies with timestamped audit certificates, a tenant portal, rent collection and arrears chasing, maintenance, deposits and the statutory move-in pack
• Built for a portfolio: every property imported from a spreadsheet, including its value, mortgage balance, your ownership share and its tax treatment, so equity and loan to value are worked out from the first day; rent set per tenancy, due weekly, fortnightly, every four weeks or monthly
• Tax and money: landlord accounting software with income and expenses per property; receipts photographed on a phone, several at a time, and read into draft expenses for you to confirm; bank statement CSV imports, with rules that file a regular payee to the same category and property; profit and loss per property and across the portfolio; an SA105 self-assessment pack with property losses carried forward; Making Tax Digital quarterly updates sent to HMRC (LetCompliance is recognised by HMRC for UK property income); Section 24 and capital-gains calculators; a mileage log; and a Xero-compatible CSV export
• Company and personal kept apart: a property held in a limited company, or one that is not in your return, stays in the portfolio and the rent records but is left out of your SA105 and Making Tax Digital figures
• Your accountant: a read-only accountant link on every plan to your SA105 figures, ledger and receipts for the current tax year or any of the five before it, with no account for them to set up
• Compliance built in: a 0 to 100 compliance score per property across gas, EICR, EPC, Right to Rent and deposit deadlines, with email reminders (SMS too on paid plans); HMO rooms managed one by one; Section 8 and 13 notices and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 toolkit (England)
• Price: from £7.99 a month, with Making Tax Digital on every paid plan (not the 3-day trial)

What it doesn’t do: LetCompliance prepares your landlord tax figures and exports them as a Xero-compatible CSV, but it is not a full limited-company statutory-accounts suite (filing company accounts at Companies House) and does not do open-banking bank-feed reconciliation. It covers UK property income only: at the year end it submits the tax return when UK property is the only income you need to add and you have no earlier-year property loss, or capital allowance beyond a car, to claim; otherwise the quarterly updates still go from LetCompliance and the return goes through other software or your accountant. A landlord with a large limited-company setup may still pair it with a dedicated accounting tool.

Verdict: if accounting is genuinely all you need, an accounting-first tool fits. If you want the rent, the tenancies and the tax in one platform, for one property or a portfolio, LetCompliance is landlord software that runs the whole let.

Hammock

Best for: 1–10 personal BTL properties where you want the lowest friction.

Strengths:

• Open banking rent matching: links to your bank and automatically reconciles tenant payments against leases
• Per-property P&L, with statements mapped to the SA105 categories
• Arrears tracker with late or missing payment alerts
• MTD ITSA quarterly filing and the final declaration

Worth knowing:

• Its bank feeds are read-only, so it tracks rent rather than collecting it
• Priced in property bands: £8, £15, £25 and £31.50 a month +VAT for 1–3, 4–10, 11–20 and 21+ properties

Verdict: A strong fit for individual landlords with 1–10 properties who want bookkeeping and MTD in one place.

Landlord Vision

Best for: Portfolio landlords (3–30 properties) who want a proper landlord CRM + accounting.

Strengths:

• Tenancy management, a tenant portal and a document store
• Work orders for contractors (Premium plan)
• Portfolio-wide P&L and an income tax report laid out by SA105 box
• MTD ITSA quarterly filing, with Open Banking bank feeds on every plan
• UK-focused throughout

Worth knowing:

• The £7.99 Starter price is 60% off for two years, billed yearly; the list price is £19.97 a month +VAT
• The tenant portal, e-signatures and legal documents start on Standard (£29.97 a month +VAT, billed yearly)

Verdict: The choice if you want tenant-management plus accounting in one UK product. Strong pick for 5+ properties.

Xero

Best for: Landlords with a limited-company BTL structure, multi-business users.

Strengths:

• Full double-entry accounting
• A large marketplace of third-party integrations
• MTD ITSA and MTD VAT
• Widely used for limited-company accounts

Worth knowing:

• A general small-business package rather than landlord software, so rental reporting depends on how the accounts are set up

Verdict: A strong choice if you need full company accounts; more than most one- or two-property landlords need.

FreeAgent

Best for: Unincorporated landlords, including those who are also self-employed, especially if they bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle.

Strengths:

• Free with a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank business current account, or a Mettle account used monthly
• A landlord account that fills in the SA105 pages, splits jointly owned property between the owners and applies the finance-cost relief
• MTD ITSA quarterly updates and the tax return
• Smart Capture receipts and automatic bank sync

Worth knowing:

• Without a qualifying bank account it is £10 a month +VAT, after six months at £5
• GOV.UK lists it for sole trader and UK property income, not foreign property

Verdict: Hard to beat if you qualify for free access; otherwise a capable landlord option.

QuickBooks

Best for: Multi-currency, US-trained bookkeepers, or landlords with an existing QuickBooks setup.

Strengths:

• Reporting and multi-currency
• On HMRC’s MTD software list

Worth knowing:

• A general small-business package rather than landlord software

Verdict: Capable, and familiar to many bookkeepers; for a UK-only landlord, compare it with the landlord-specific options above.

How to decide: by scenario

Scenario A: 1–2 personal BTLs, simple finances

Pick Hammock, FreeAgent (free if you bank with NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle), or LetCompliance if you want the tenancy and the tax in the same login. Start on the entry plan; upgrade when MTD ITSA kicks in.

Scenario B: 3–10 personal BTLs, no limited company

Pick LetCompliance or Landlord Vision if you want the tenancy and the accounts together (LetCompliance also runs the lettings, compliance and notices; Landlord Vision leads on Open Banking bookkeeping), or Hammock if you just want accounting + MTD. All three send MTD ITSA updates for personal self-assessment.

Scenario C: BTL via a limited company

Pick Xero or FreeAgent for the limited-company accounts. Add Hammock for personal portfolio P&L if you also own BTLs in your name.

Scenario D: Mixed self-employed + rental

FreeAgent (free with a NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank or Mettle account), or Xero for fuller accounts.

What to check before you subscribe

1. 1HMRC recognition for MTD ITSA: confirm on HMRC’s software finder, tax.service.gov.uk/find-making-tax-digital-income-tax-software
2. 2UK bank feeds via open banking (check the provider supports your bank)
3. 3Migration path: can you import your 2025–26 spreadsheet history?
4. 4VAT / ltd-co upgrade path: do you need it?
5. 5Trial period: is there a free trial, and how long does it run?
6. 6Portfolio import: can it take your property list, values and mortgage balances from a spreadsheet, and keep company-owned properties out of your personal figures?
7. 7Accountant access: can your accountant see the figures and receipts without your password?

FAQs

Can I still use a spreadsheet under MTD ITSA?

Yes, but only with bridging software (e.g., BTC Software, Absolute, 123 Sheets). The spreadsheet must have digital links to the bridge, with no copy-paste. Most landlords find a dedicated package cheaper in practice.

Do I need separate software if I have a limited company AND personal BTLs?

Often yes. Limited-company statutory accounts, corporation tax, and dividend planning are different beasts from personal self-assessment. Xero / FreeAgent handle the company; Hammock often plays nicely alongside for the personal property P&L. In LetCompliance a property marked as held in a limited company stays in the portfolio and the rent records but is left out of your SA105 and Making Tax Digital figures; LetCompliance does not prepare company accounts or Corporation Tax returns.

What is the best accounting software for a landlord with several properties?

For several properties in your own name, choose software that keeps the rent and costs against each property and adds them into the one quarterly update HMRC expects for your UK property business. GOV.UK treats all your UK lets as one UK property business, so you do not need separate digital records for each property, and for a property you own jointly you record only your share. LetCompliance imports a portfolio from a spreadsheet, including each property’s value, mortgage balance, ownership share and tax treatment, counts your share of each property in the quarterly updates, and is priced by the number of properties: £14.99 a month for up to 3, £19 for up to 10, £29 for up to 20 and £49 for unlimited.

Can my accountant see my rental accounts?

Yes, if your software gives them access. LetCompliance gives your accountant a read-only link on every plan, with no account to set up, to your SA105 figures, ledger and receipts for the current tax year or any of the five before it. The link cannot change anything and expires after 30, 90 or 180 days.

Where to go next

• MTD ITSA for landlords 2026: the full MTD timeline and penalties
• Landlord spreadsheet vs software: when spreadsheets stop working
• Buy-to-let tax UK 2026: what you’re reporting on

Get started. Your tax figures come from the let itself: the rent that came in, the repairs you paid for, the fees along the way. LetCompliance records them as the let runs, with a receipt for every rent payment (collected by Direct Debit on a paid plan), then turns them into an SA105 tax pack with figures for each property and MTD quarterly updates sent to HMRC for your UK property business. Send your accountant a read-only link, or export the Xero-compatible CSV if they work in Xero.