Property Hawk is shutting down at the end of July 2026.
Once it goes offline, your rent records, tenancy details and certificate dates go with it. Export your data and move to a live platform before the closure — not the week it happens.
What’s happening to Property Hawk?
Property Hawk has been a free online platform for UK landlords since 2006 — a digital rent book, tenant records, basic tenancy paperwork and certificate reminders, supported by adverts and partner referrals. For a long time it was the default free choice, and it built a large landlord following.
It is now closing at the end of July 2026. For landlords who relied on it, that creates two jobs at once: get your data out before the service goes offline, and choose a replacement that covers what has changed since 2006 — most of all the post-Section-21 regime under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, neither of which Property Hawk was built for.
This page is an honest guide to that move: exactly what Property Hawk did, how LetCompliance compares, how to export your data, and a checklist to finish before the closure. We are not affiliated with Property Hawk — the closure details are based on its own announcement.
What Property Hawk did
Credit where it’s due — for a free tool, it covered the basics of running a tenancy:
- A digital rent book — record rent due and paid, with statements
- Tenant and guarantor records
- Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreements and basic Section 21 / Section 8 letter templates
- Drag-and-drop property inventory forms
- Repeat task reminders for Gas Safety, electrical checks and EPCs (weekly / monthly email)
- Maintenance job logging and utility-account records
- Expense tracking by tax year and an annual Self Assessment land-and-property pre-population
- Tenancy reports, closing statements and meter readings
- Tenant referencing via a partner (lettingref.co.uk), plus a BTL mortgage search and a large landlord forum
What it never offered: a 0–100 compliance score, court-ready evidence, MTD-ready tax, the RRA 2025 / Section 8 toolkit, a real tenant portal or a lettings funnel — and its notice templates still produced now-abolished Section 21 paperwork.
Property Hawk vs LetCompliance
What carries over, and what you gain. For the full feature-by-feature view, see the head-to-head comparison.
| Capability | Property Hawk | LetCompliance |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (ad / partner-supported) | £14.99/mo from 2 properties |
| Status in 2026 | Closing end of July 2026 | Actively developed |
| Rent book, statements & receipts | Rent book + statements | Rent tracking, PDF receipts + automated arrears chasing |
| Tenant & guarantor records | Yes | Yes |
| Tenancy agreement | AST template | AST / periodic + e-signature & sealed audit trail |
| Notices (post-Section-21) | Basic Section 21 / 8 letters | Section 8 drafter (Ground 8 calc), Section 13, RRA 2025 Information Sheet |
| Certificate tracking | Email task reminders | 0–100 compliance score + 90/30/14/7/1 reminders + AI expiry detection |
| Court-ready evidence pack | No | PDF pack + audit-logged tenant delivery |
| Tax / HMRC | Annual SA pre-fill | SA105 pack + MTD quarterly summary + Section 24 + mileage |
| Tenant portal | Limited | Passwordless portal: rent, repairs, docs, meters, messages |
| Adverts, applications & viewings | No | Full lettings funnel |
| Inventory check-in / check-out | Inventory forms | Photo inventory + tenant sign-off |
| Tenant referencing | Via lettingref partner | Captures applicant details; use a referencing provider |
| Landlord forum / community | Large forum | Not offered |
What you gain by moving to LetCompliance
The gaps Property Hawk users feel most — MTD, compliance scoring and the post-Section-21 toolkit — are exactly where LetCompliance is built.
- MTD-ready tax: SA105 pack + one-click accountant CSV, Section 24 and MTD quarterly summary on HMRC dates (Property Hawk pre-populated an annual return only).
- A 0–100 compliance score per property, with email + SMS reminders at 90/30/14/7/1 days and AI expiry detection on uploaded certificates.
- The post-Section-21 toolkit: Section 8 drafter with the Ground 8 calculator, Section 13 rent increases, Awaab’s Law SLA timer, pet-request 28-day tracker and the RRA 2025 Information Sheet workflow.
- Court-ready evidence: a PDF compliance pack and an audit log of every certificate served on the tenant, built for FTT scrutiny.
- A passwordless tenant portal — rent balance and receipts, repairs, meter readings, notices and two-way messages.
- The whole lettings funnel: shareable adverts, applications and viewings, then convert an approved applicant to a live tenant in one click.
- E-signature on tenancy agreements and notices with a sealed audit trail, plus inventory check-in / check-out with photos.
Being straight with you: what changes
We are not going to pretend the move is all upside. Three honest trade-offs:
- It is no longer free. LetCompliance is £14.99/mo (from 2 properties) — a fraction of one missed-certificate penalty (an EICR breach alone can reach £30,000).
- Tenant referencing isn’t built in. LetCompliance captures applicant details (income, employment, guarantor, occupants) up front; for credit/affordability referencing you keep using a dedicated provider.
- There is no public forum/community board. The product replaces the software, not Property Hawk’s discussion board.
Want the full feature-by-feature table? See the head-to-head comparison.
The MTD deadline most Property Hawk users are about to hit
Property Hawk pre-populated an annual Self Assessment — but it never offered Making Tax Digital quarterly submission. From 6 April 2026, landlords whose qualifying income exceeded £50,000 in 2024/25 must keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC. The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028 — pulling in most UK landlords.
LetCompliance won’t file for you, but it gets you ready: an SA105-shaped tax pack, an MTD-dated quarterly summary, a Section 24 mortgage-interest calculator and a 45p/25p mileage log — formatted to paste into an HMRC-recognised filing tool or hand to your accountant. If you’re under the threshold, our MTD timeline shows exactly when (and whether) it applies to you — no panic required.
How to move off Property Hawk
The order matters — get your data out first, then import. Most landlords are fully set up in under 20 minutes.
- 1
Log in while Property Hawk is still live
Do this well before the end-of-July-2026 closure — not in the final week, when support and servers will be busiest.
- 2
Export your properties and tenancies
Use Property Hawk’s export to download a CSV of addresses, postcodes, tenants, tenancy dates and rent. If you can’t find the export, contact Property Hawk support — or send us a screenshot and we’ll point you to it.
- 3
Download every stored certificate and document
Save your Gas Safety, EICR and EPC PDFs and any tenancy paperwork to your own computer or drive. Once the service is offline, anything left only on Property Hawk is gone.
- 4
Keep the rent statements you need for tax
Download closing statements and rent records you’ll want for your Self Assessment, so your history survives the move.
- 5
Import into LetCompliance (or hand it to us)
Upload the CSV at /properties/import, or send everything through our contact page for a free done-for-you setup. AI expiry detection reads the dates off your certificates as you upload them.
Before Property Hawk closes: your checklist
- Export your property and tenancy data as CSV
- Download every Gas Safety, EICR and EPC certificate
- Save tenancy agreements and prescribed-information documents
- Keep the rent statements you need for Self Assessment
- Set up your replacement platform and import before the closure
- Re-serve nothing — your existing certificates carry over; just upload them
Done-for-you migration
Can’t export it, or don’t want to set it up yourself? We’ll add your properties for you.
Send us whatever you have — a Property Hawk export, an old spreadsheet, even a typed list of your addresses, tenancies, rents and certificate dates. We’ll build your portfolio in LetCompliance, load your certificates and hand you back an account that’s ready to use. No charge, no catch — we just want the move off Property Hawk to be painless.
Send us your details — we’ll set it upPrefer to do it yourself? The CSV import takes about 20 minutes.
Move before Property Hawk goes offline
Import your portfolio, upload your certificates and see your first compliance score — free for 14 days, no card required.
Property Hawk migration — FAQ
Is Property Hawk really closing?
Yes — Property Hawk has announced it is closing at the end of July 2026. It ran free since 2006, so its data export matters: get your properties, tenancies and rent records out before the service goes offline, and have a replacement in place first.
How do I move my data from Property Hawk to LetCompliance?
Export your properties and tenancies from Property Hawk as a CSV (address, postcode, tenant name, rent and any certificate dates). Upload it at /properties/import — the column matcher is forgiving — or send it through our contact page and we will map and set it up for you. Our AI expiry detection then pre-fills Gas / EICR / EPC dates the moment you upload the certificates. Most landlords are fully set up in under 20 minutes.
What did Property Hawk do that LetCompliance does differently?
Property Hawk gave you a digital rent book, tenant records, basic tenancy and notice letters, certificate task reminders and an annual tax pre-population — free. LetCompliance adds what the 2026 regime needs: MTD-ready tax, a 0–100 compliance score, the RRA 2025 / Section 8 toolkit (Property Hawk still generated now-abolished Section 21 paperwork), court-ready evidence, a tenant portal and the full lettings funnel.
Property Hawk was free — is paid software worth it?
Honest answer: if you own a single property and track compliance comfortably by hand, a free tool or a spreadsheet can be enough. The value of paid software shows up with scale and risk: since Section 21 was abolished (1 May 2026) a single missed compliance step can block every Section 8 possession claim, and one missed EICR can mean a £30,000 penalty. From 2+ properties, the cost of one mistake dwarfs the £14.99/mo fee.
Does LetCompliance handle MTD for Income Tax?
It prepares, not files. You get a Section 24 calculator, an SA105-shaped tax pack, an MTD-dated quarterly summary and a 45p/25p mileage log — formatted to paste into an HMRC-recognised filing tool or hand to your accountant. Property Hawk predated MTD and never offered quarterly submission, which is why many of its users need a replacement before the April 2026 £50,000 threshold bites.
How long does the free trial last?
LetCompliance is free for 14 days, no card required. That is enough to import your Property Hawk portfolio, upload your certificates and see your first 0–100 compliance score before you decide.
Will I lose my data when Property Hawk closes?
Anything left only on Property Hawk goes offline when the service closes. That is why the first move is to export your properties, tenancies and rent records as CSV and download every stored certificate and document to your own computer — before the end of July 2026. Then import them into your new platform.
Is there a free Property Hawk replacement?
There are still ad-supported free tools, but be clear-eyed about the trade: free platforms rarely offer MTD-ready tax, a compliance score, court-ready evidence or the post-Section-21 (RRA 2025) toolkit, and some monetise through referral commissions that shape what they recommend. For a single low-risk property a spreadsheet can be enough; from two properties, the cost of one missed deadline outweighs a paid tool. LetCompliance starts at £14.99/mo.
I’m a letting agent moving off Property Hawk — does that work?
Yes. Beyond the landlord plans, LetCompliance has agency tiers (Branch £129/mo, Network £249/mo) with multi-branch workspaces, role-based access, landlord-client onboarding and Client Money Protection reconciliation. The same CSV import and free done-for-you migration apply.
Do my tenants need to do anything?
No. Once you import a tenancy you can issue a passwordless tenant-portal link — your tenant sees their rent balance, documents, repairs and notices, and can message you — but nothing breaks if you don’t. Their existing tenancy and your certificates carry over unchanged.
When exactly is Property Hawk closing?
Property Hawk has announced it is closing at the end of July 2026. Treat that as a hard deadline for getting your data out, and aim to have your replacement set up several weeks earlier so nothing lapses during the switch.
Last reviewed 9 June 2026. Property Hawk is an independent product; LetCompliance is not affiliated with it. Details of its closure are based on Property Hawk’s own announcement.