The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is the most significant change to the private rented sector in a generation. It ends the fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy. It ends Section 21 eviction, which needed no fault. It creates a Private Rented Sector Database that landlords must join. It makes every landlord join a redress scheme. Lettings software must change for all four. This guide compares the main platforms used by UK lettings agents and explains what the regulatory changes mean for your software requirements.
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The Renters' Rights Act 2025 follows the Renters (Reform) Bill that came before it. It makes several changes that decide how lettings software must work.
All new residential tenancies in England are now periodic from the outset. There are no fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies. The fixed end date is gone, so it can no longer start any work. A tenancy record now has no natural end that asks for a renewal or a new let. Some lettings software was built around fixed terms. It sends renewal notices in month 11, and reports on tenancies that have ended. It must now work with a tenancy that does not end.
Agents can no longer serve a Section 21 notice to recover possession without a stated ground. All possession proceedings now require a Section 8 notice with a specific, legally valid ground. Lettings software must support the Section 8 notice generation process with correct grounds, notice periods, and prescribed information requirements. Software that only generated Section 21 notices, or that generated Section 8 notices as a secondary function, needs updating.
The Act establishes a national database of private rented sector properties and landlords. Landlords must register before letting and agents managing properties on behalf of unregistered landlords may face compliance liability. Lettings software will need to store and verify landlord registration numbers against the database. The database is being phased in; agents should check the current implementation status with their software provider.
All private landlords in England (not just agents) are required to join a government-approved redress scheme. Lettings software should record the landlord's redress scheme membership and expiry date, similar to how it records client money protection (CMP) scheme membership.
| Platform | Renters' Rights Act Updates | CMP/Compliance | Pricing | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reapit | Active updates; S.21 removal, periodic tenancy workflows | Full CMP, deposit protection, redress scheme tracking | Enterprise; quote-based | Large multi-branch agents and corporate lettings operations |
| Jupix (Zoopla) | Compliance updates in progress | CMP and deposit protection integration | Per-branch subscription; quote-based | Independent and multi-branch agents already in Zoopla ecosystem |
| Alto (Zoopla) | Compliance updates in progress | CMP and deposit protection | Per-user subscription | Small to medium lettings agents wanting a cloud-based system |
| Goodlord | Strong on tenancy compliance workflows; referencing and onboarding | Integrated referencing, insurance, deposit protection | Per-tenancy pricing | Agents wanting automated tenant referencing and onboarding within one platform |
| Fixflo | Maintenance-focused; limited tenancy management | Compliance features for maintenance obligations | Per-property per-month | Agents wanting to improve maintenance request management alongside their main platform |
| Acquaint CRM | Compliance updates in progress | CMP integration | Per-user per-month | Small independent lettings agents |
| Landlord Vision | Compliance updates in progress | Deposit tracking; basic compliance | Per-property per-month | Landlords managing their own portfolios without agent intermediaries |
| Arthur Online | Compliance updates in progress | CMP, deposit protection, compliance certificates | Per-unit per-month | Portfolio landlords and build-to-rent operators |
All lettings agents in England must be members of a government-approved Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme. CMP protects landlord and tenant money held by the agent if the agent goes out of business or commits fraud. The main approved schemes are ARLA Propertymark, NALS, RICS, safeagent, and the Client Money Protect scheme.
Agents must display their CMP scheme membership details in all business documentation and on their website. Lettings software should store the agent's CMP scheme name, membership number, and expiry date, and alert when renewal is approaching. An agent operating without CMP membership faces a civil penalty of up to £30,000.
Separate from CMP, all letting agents must belong to a government-approved redress scheme (Property Redress Scheme or The Property Ombudsman). Lettings software should track this membership alongside CMP.
Tenancy deposits in the UK must be protected in one of three government-approved schemes: Deposit Protection Service (DPS), mydeposits, or Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). You must confirm the protection within 30 days of the day you took the deposit. You must give the tenant the required information in the same 30 days.
Some lettings software connects straight to one or more deposit schemes. An agent can then protect a deposit and make the required documents without leaving the screen. This integration saves significant time and reduces the risk of missing the 30-day deadline. Missing the deadline exposes the agent and landlord to a penalty of one to three times the deposit amount.
When evaluating platforms, confirm which deposit schemes are integrated and how the integration works. Some platforms connect to one scheme only. The landlord or the tenant may want a different scheme. The agent must then handle that deposit outside the system. Full integration with all three schemes is the ideal.
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Lettings agents managing properties on behalf of landlords carry responsibility for ensuring compliance certificates are current before a tenancy begins and throughout the tenancy. The key certificates are:
Lettings software should store certificate expiry dates for every managed property and send alerts before each expires. An agent with many properties and no such records cannot see the risk. One gas safety certificate runs out. That can bring a prohibition notice, a tenancy that does not stand, and a fine.
Rent arrears take more time than almost any other lettings work. The quality of the software here has a direct effect on what an agent earns. A good lettings platform should chase arrears by itself. It should send a reminder on day one, on day seven and on day fourteen. It should then pass the case to the lettings manager, at a point you set.
Under the Renters' Rights Act, the Section 8 eviction grounds have been revised. Ground 8 (two months' rent arrears) remains a mandatory ground requiring the court to grant possession. The level for the discretionary grounds, 10 and 11, has not changed. Courts will now weigh those cases more carefully, because the tenancy has no end date. An agent with more than a few arrears cases needs two things from the software. A full history of the arrears. A Section 8 notice made for them, with the right grounds and the right notice periods.
The UK build-to-rent (BTR) sector has grown significantly. A build-to-rent operator runs hundreds of homes on one site, and needs more than a lettings agent does. Repairs run from one place. Residents use an app. Someone runs community events and a concierge desk. All the usual lettings duties still apply.
Most traditional lettings platforms were not designed for BTR. Arthur Online serves residents better. So do the specialist platforms, such as Goodlord and Elevated, which Reapit owns. So does the MODA platform, which MODA built for itself. A large build-to-rent operator has one question. Use a specialist platform, or build a resident system of your own and join it to a standard lettings back end?
You can see this in a working system. The ESRE live estate agent demo opens with no login, and it shows the lettings work in this guide. Sign in as lettings and see the tenant onboarding with Renters' Rights checks, or as tenant and view the portal. It is a working system, not a screenshot.
The Renters' Rights Act is one law. It applies to every letting agent in England in the same way.
Every vendor is now building the same change. The rolling tenancy. The Section 8 grounds. The PRS database. Each agency waits for its own vendor, and pays for the same work in its subscription.
We build the other way. The tenancy, the deposit, the certificate and the notice are declared once, in a shared foundation that every agency system uses. A change in the law is made once. Each agency still owns its own system, and each one has the change on the same day.
We explain how a whole sector shares one foundation in bespoke software for a whole sector. We explain why that changes the market itself in what does an interoperable software market look like.
Most lettings agents will be well served by Reapit, Jupix, or Alto, compared in full in our estate agency CRM comparison. The scenarios where bespoke development makes sense tend to be at the edges of the standard lettings model.
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The Renters' Rights Act 2025 has fundamentally changed the framework that lettings software must operate within. Three old steps must go. Fixed-term tenancy work, the Section 21 notice, and renewal management. Three new ones replace them. Rolling tenancy management, Section 8 possession by grounds, and PRS database records. Every platform in the market is adapting; the key questions are how quickly and how completely.
Reapit is the strongest full-service option for larger agents. Goodlord is the best choice for agents prioritising tenant referencing and onboarding automation. Jupix and Alto suit agents in the Zoopla ecosystem. Some agencies do not fit a commercial platform, and bending one to fit costs more each year. That applies to a portfolio operator, a build-to-rent manager, and an agent whose landlords are funds. A build of their own is usually worth more over time.