Property Setup Guide
A simple guide to organising your property documents and sharing them with tenants.
How the property page is organised: Each property has three tabs — Documents (your files and certificates), Tenants (sharing links and tracking access), and Activity (full audit log). The header shows key stats including a Compliance Score that tracks your required documents, certificate expiries, and tenant link setup.
Create Your Property
Start by adding a property to your account. Enter the address and basic details. You can add as many properties as your plan allows.
- Go to Properties and click Add Property
- Enter the property address and any notes
- Add a photo of the property if you wish
- Add a welcome message for tenants (WiFi password, check-in instructions, contact details)
Add Your Documents & Information
Upload important documents and add useful information for your tenants. Use the default checklist to ensure you have all legally required documents.
- Click Add Checklist to add standard UK landlord documents
- Use Upload Multiple to add several documents at once (auto-detects types from filenames and allows room assignment for HMOs)
- Use Copy from Property to reuse documents from another property (great for standard docs like How to Rent)
- Use From Template (in More menu) to quickly add documents from your saved templates — pre-fills title, category, content, and settings
- Upload PDFs of your EPC, Gas Safety Certificate, EICR, and more
- Add contact details for emergency contacts and utility suppliers
- Upload appliance manuals or add links to online manuals
- Upload multiple photos with labels for inventory and check-in documentation
- Mark items as "requires agreement" if tenants need to acknowledge receipt
- Set expiry dates on certificates - you'll get email reminders before they expire
- Select multiple documents and use Delete to remove them all at once when tidying up
- Use bulk actions to update category, expiry date, or room assignment across multiple documents at once — use “Select all in category” to quickly grab a whole group
- Drag and drop to reorder documents within categories and reorder entire category sections — the order you set is what tenants see in their links
Tip: When you replace a document with an updated version, HouseFile automatically archives the old version so you have a complete history.
Create a Tenant Link
Generate a secure, shareable link that gives your tenant access to all the property information they need.
- Go to the Tenants tab on your property page and click Create Tenant Link
- Give the link a label so it's clear what it's for — e.g. “Move-in Pack”, “Appliance Manuals”, “Bedroom 2”. The label appears on your list and on the tenant's portal
- Enter the tenant's email address - allows automatic reminders and direct email delivery of the link
- Use the Send button to email the link directly to your tenant with a professional welcome message
- Use Resend to notify tenants when documents are updated or new ones are added
- Filter by categories to create specialized links (e.g., maintenance-only, appliances-only) - perfect for contractors or quick-reference access
- Turn off tracking for reference links (appliance manuals, useful info) — tenants can still access the content, but it won't appear in your acknowledgment tracking
- Set an expiration date if needed
- Set a rent review date to receive a reminder 30 days before — appears in your calendar alongside certificate expiries
- Copy the link manually to send via WhatsApp or text if preferred
- Generate a QR code to display in the property - tenants can scan it anytime to access all documents and information
- Use Duplicate to create a new link with the same settings — the form pre-fills so you can adjust the label, tenant name, and email before generating
Tip: Print the QR code and place it somewhere visible in the property (e.g., inside a kitchen cupboard or on the boiler). This gives tenants instant access to manuals, emergency contacts, and important documents whenever they need them.
Tenant experience: When tenants have lots of documents, they can use the search bar to find specific items, collapse categories to reduce clutter, or use the quick navigation to jump directly to a category.
Track Tenant Access
The Tenant Overview in the Tenants tab gives you a per-tenant progress card for every link you've shared. At a glance you can see who has opened their link, which required documents are still outstanding, and who needs a nudge.
- Each tenant gets a progress card showing how many documents they've viewed, confirmed, or declined — with a live progress bar
- Links marked “Needs attention” are surfaced first — covering links that were sent but never opened, or tenants who still have required agreements outstanding
- Expand any tenant card to see the status of every document — confirmed, declined (with reason), viewed, or not yet opened
- See last activity timestamps — know exactly when a tenant last interacted with their link
- Download a compliance report as PDF for tribunal evidence
Required agreements: Mark any document as “requires agreement” and HouseFile will flag it as outstanding until the tenant explicitly confirms receipt. This is the strongest proof you can have for legally required documents.
Stay on Top of Everything
Your dashboard gives you a complete overview of all your properties and their compliance status at a glance.
Compliance & Tracking
- Compliance score on each property (documents, expiries, sharing)
- Tenant acknowledgment progress per link
- Activity log with full audit trail
Calendar & Reminders
- Expiry calendar for certificates and rent reviews
- Automatic email reminders 30 days before
- Filter by document type or rent reviews
Smart Notifications
- Batched emails (no spam)
- Tenant response summaries
- Expiry warnings
Quick Access
- Search with Cmd/Ctrl+K
- Mobile-friendly design
- Export data to CSV
Mobile app: Add HouseFile to your phone's home screen. On iPhone: Share → Add to Home Screen. On Android: Menu → Install app.
Export data: Settings → Export Data to download properties, documents, and acknowledgments as CSV files.
HMOs & Room Management
For HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation), create individual rooms and assign documents at property or room level.
- Click the Rooms button in the documents section to add, rename, or delete rooms
- Use the room filter dropdown to quickly view documents for a specific room
- Property-wide documents (Gas Safety, EICR, How to Rent) are shared with all tenants
- Room-specific documents (tenancy agreements, inventories) are only shown to that room's tenant
- When adding a document, select which room(s) it belongs to
- When using Upload Multiple, select which rooms to assign all documents to at once
- Create separate tenant links per room - each tenant sees shared documents plus their room's documents
Example: In a 4-bedroom HMO, Gas Safety and house rules go at property level (all tenants see them). Each room gets its own tenancy agreement and deposit certificate. Room 1's tenant only sees Room 1's documents plus the shared property documents.
Multi-Property Management
Managing multiple properties? Save time by reusing your setup across properties.
Duplicate Properties
- Click Duplicate Property on any property page
- Copies the property structure and all documents
- Choose to include rooms (useful for HMO templates)
Copy Documents Between Properties
- Click Copy from Property in the Folder Items section
- Select which documents to copy from another property
- Great for standard documents like How to Rent guide or house rules
- Automatically skips documents that already exist
Document Templates
Create reusable templates for documents you add to multiple properties — perfect for standardising your setup.
- Go to Templates in the sidebar to create and manage templates
- Templates save title, category, content type, and “requires agreement” settings
- For text and link documents, templates also save the content itself
- Click More → From Template when adding documents to use a template
Linked Templates
Keep documents connected to their template so updates sync automatically across all your properties.
- When applying a template, enable “Keep linked to template” to maintain the connection
- Linked documents show a link icon and cannot be edited directly — edit the template instead
- When you update a template, you'll see which properties and documents will be affected before confirming
- Optionally reset tenant acknowledgments so tenants must re-view updated documents
- Unlink a document anytime if you need to make property-specific changes
Tip: Use linked templates for documents that need to stay consistent across properties, like house rules or emergency contact lists. When you update the template, all linked documents update automatically — no need to edit each property individually.
What Documents Should I Include?
As a UK landlord, you're legally required to provide certain documents. HouseFile's default checklist includes:
Legal Requirements
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
- How to Rent Guide
- Tenancy Agreement
- Deposit Protection Certificate
Safety Certificates
- Gas Safety Certificate (CP12)
- EICR (Electrical Safety)
- Smoke & CO Alarm Statements
- Legionella Risk Assessment
- PAT Testing Certificate
Utilities & Contacts
- Emergency contact information
- Utility suppliers (gas, electric, water, broadband)
- Meter readings & locations
Appliances
- Boiler manual & service history
- Washing machine instructions
- Oven & hob guides
- Any other appliance manuals
Inventory
- Inventory & condition report
- Check-in photos
- Meter readings at move-in
Other Helpful Info
- Bin collection days
- Parking permits info
- Local amenities
- House rules
