Complete Property Agent Guide

Register Your Agency

Quick Start:

1. Go to: BravoHomesUK.com/register
2. Select Account Type: Choose "Agent" (Property Management Agency)
3. Enter Agency Details:
   • Agency name
   • Your name (as agency manager)
   • Agency email address
   • Phone number
   • Office address
4. Set Strong Password
5. Agree to Terms
6. Click "Create Account"

Complete Agency Profile

Go to Dashboard → Profile and add:

• Agency logo (displayed on reports, statements)
• Company registration number
• VAT number (if VAT registered)
• Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme details
• Professional indemnity insurance details
• Bank account for receiving rent via Stripe
• Agency branding colors (Enterprise plan)

Verification for Agencies

To unlock full platform access:

1. Upload proof of agency registration (Companies House document)
2. Upload CMP scheme membership certificate
3. Upload professional indemnity insurance certificate
4. ID verification for agency principals

Invite Your Team

After registration:

• Go to Dashboard → Team Management
• Add team members (property managers, admin staff)
• Set role-based permissions (view-only, edit properties, approve payments, etc.)
• Team members get their own login credentials

Add Properties to Your Portfolio

Single Property Add:

1. Go to Dashboard → My Properties → Add Property
2. Enter full property details
3. Assign to landlord owner (if already registered)
4. Upload photos and documents
5. Set rental amount and terms
6. Save property

Bulk Property Import (Recommended for Agencies)

If you're onboarding 5+ properties:

1. Go to Dashboard → Bulk Property Upload
2. Download the Excel template
3. Fill in all property details in the spreadsheet:
   • Address, postcode, bedrooms, bathrooms
   • Rent amount, deposit
   • Landlord owner reference
   • Property type, EPC rating
4. Upload the completed file
5. All properties imported in seconds!

Bulk Image Upload:

• Go to Bulk Image Upload
• Name image files with property reference code: PROP-001_living_room.jpg
• Upload multiple images at once
• System auto-assigns photos to correct properties

Portfolio Dashboard:

View at a glance:

• Total properties under management
• Occupancy rate (% occupied vs vacant)
• Total monthly rent collected
• Properties by type (houses, flats, etc.)
• Properties by location (postcode area)
• Portfolio value (total estimated value)

Onboarding Landlords

When you take on a new landlord client:

1. Go to Dashboard → Landlords → Add Landlord
2. Enter landlord details (name, email, phone, address)
3. Upload signed management agreement
4. Set payment schedule (when you pay landlord their net rent)
5. Invite landlord to create their own portal login (optional)

Landlord Portal Access (Optional):

You can give landlords view-only access to see:

• Their properties
• Tenant details
• Rent payment history
• Maintenance requests status
• Monthly owner statements

Landlords cannot edit anything - only view their portfolio managed by you.

Managing Multiple Landlord Portfolios:

• Filter by landlord: View properties, tenants, payments for specific landlord
• Landlord ledger: See what you owe each landlord (rent collected minus fees)
• Bulk actions: Generate statements for all landlords at once

Track What You Owe Landlords

What is the Landlord Ledger?

The Landlord Ledger is a running balance showing:

• Total amount you owe landlords (rent collected but not yet paid out)
• Per-landlord breakdown
• Recent transactions affecting the ledger
• Reconciliation tools to ensure accuracy

How It Works:

Event	Ledger Impact	Example
Tenant pays rent	INCREASES ledger	£1,000 rent collected → You owe landlord £1,000
You charge management fee	DECREASES ledger	10% fee (£100) → You owe landlord £900 now
You pay landlord	DECREASES ledger	Pay landlord £900 → Ledger back to £0
Maintenance paid on landlord's behalf	DECREASES ledger	£150 plumber fee → You owe landlord £750

Accessing the Landlord Ledger:

1. Go to Finance Dashboard → Ledger
2. See total balance owed to all landlords
3. Click on a landlord to see their individual balance
4. View transaction history affecting their balance
5. Export to Excel for bank reconciliation

Legal Disclaimer:

BravoHomesUK provides a TRACKING TOOL for client money. You (the agency) hold the actual funds in YOUR client account and YOU remain responsible for compliance with UK client money protection regulations. We do NOT hold any client money.

Stop Calculating Fees Manually!

Set up your management fee structure once, and BravoHomesUK automatically:

• Calculates your fee when rent is collected
• Creates journal entries for fee income
• Updates landlord ledger (reduces what you owe them)
• Tracks total fee income for reporting

Two Fee Types:

How to Set Up Fee Configurations:

1. Go to Finance Dashboard → Management Fees
2. Click "Add Fee Config"
3. Choose scope:
   • Landlord-level: Default fee for ALL properties of this landlord
   • Property-level: Custom fee for one specific property
4. Select fee type: Percentage or Fixed
5. Enter rate (e.g., 10 for 10%, or 150 for £150 fixed)
6. Save

Priority System:

If you set BOTH landlord-level AND property-level configs:

• Property-level fee wins (overrides landlord default)
• This lets you have a default (e.g., 10% for most properties)
• With custom rates for specific properties (e.g., 8% for a large portfolio client)

Example Scenario:

Banded short-let fee model for agencies

Short-let / BnB fees are tier-banded so you can scale volume while keeping costs predictable.

• Base band: 10.0%
• Professional band: 9.5%
• Premium / Enterprise band: 9.0% (with maintenance-usage eligibility if enabled)
• Minimum fee floor: a minimum per-booking fee can apply.

How agents verify the active band

1. Open Create/Edit Property for a short-let listing.
2. Go to Short Let / Holiday Let Details.
3. Review the Booking Summary to see: active fee %, platform fee amount, and host net estimate.

Your Agency Brand, Powered by BravoHomesUK

Enterprise plan agencies can white-label the platform with their own branding. Your landlords and tenants see your agency brand — not BravoHomesUK — throughout every interaction.

What Can Be Branded?

• Agency logo: Displayed in the dashboard, on all PDF reports, owner statements, and maintenance job sheets
• Brand colours: Primary and secondary colour scheme applied across your portal
• Agency name: Appears on all automated emails (rent reminders, maintenance updates, compliance alerts)
• Custom domain: Point your own domain to your BravoHomesUK portal (e.g., portal.youragency.co.uk)

How to Set Up White-Label Branding

1. Go to Dashboard → Agency Settings → Branding
2. Upload your agency logo (PNG or SVG, min 200×200px)
3. Enter your brand colours (primary hex code)
4. Save — changes apply immediately across your portal

Branded Materials (Your Logo Appears On):

• Monthly owner statements (PDF) sent to landlords
• Rent receipts and payment confirmations
• Maintenance job notifications and completion reports
• Compliance alerts and document reminder emails
• Tenancy renewal notices

Client Money Protection (CMP) — Mandatory Since April 2019

Under the Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019, all letting agents in England who hold client money (rent, deposits, or fees on behalf of landlords or tenants) must be members of a government-approved CMP scheme.

• You must display your CMP scheme membership on your website, office, and all business documents
• You must have a dedicated client money bank account separate from your business account
• Failure to belong to a scheme: civil penalty up to £30,000 per property

Approved CMP Schemes: Propertymark Client Money Protection, RICS Client Money Protection, ARLA Propertymark, Client Money Protect, Money Shield, Safeagent

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance

Letting agents in the UK must comply with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 (as amended). If your agency handles monthly rent of £10,000 or more, you must:

• Register with HMRC’s AML Supervision at gov.uk
• Implement an AML policy, risk assessment, and due diligence procedures
• Carry out Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on landlords and tenants
• Report suspicious activity via a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to the National Crime Agency (NCA)
• Train all staff in AML procedures annually
• Keep AML records for at least 5 years

Tenant Fees Act 2019

Agents cannot charge tenants any fees except:

• Rent
• Holding deposit (≤1 week’s rent)
• Security deposit (≤5 weeks’ rent for rents <£50,000/year)
• Default charges (e.g., late payment fee; must be reasonable and specified in the agreement)
• Early contract termination cost (only if the tenant requests to end early)
• Key or security device loss (reasonable cost only)

Penalty for charging prohibited fees: up to £5,000 (first offence); up to £30,000 for repeat offences as a trading standards offence.

Redress Scheme Membership (Mandatory)

All letting agents in England must be members of a government-approved Property Redress Scheme:

• Property Redress Scheme (PRS) — theprs.co.uk
• The Property Ombudsman (TPO) — tpos.co.uk

Failure to join a scheme: civil penalty up to £5,000.

Other Key Agent Obligations

• Display certificate: Display your CMP and redress scheme membership certificates in your office and on your website
• Right to Rent: You are responsible for carrying out Right to Rent checks on behalf of landlords where you manage tenancies
• Data Protection: Register with the ICO as a data controller and comply with UK GDPR for all landlord and tenant data you process
• Propertymark/ARLA membership: While not legally required, membership of a professional body such as Propertymark (ARLA) demonstrates adherence to professional standards and a code of conduct

Renters’ Rights Act 2025 — Agent Obligations

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. Phase 1 commences 1 May 2026 — the biggest change to residential tenancy law in decades, affecting every letting agent in England.

Requirement	What Changes	Agent Action Required
Section 21 abolished	No-fault eviction notices cannot be served from 1 May 2026	Remove S21 from all agency processes; use Schedule 1 grounds only
All tenancies become periodic	Existing fixed-term ASTs auto-convert to rolling periodic on 1 May 2026	Update tenancy management systems; no new fixed-term ASTs after commencement
Tenant notice to leave	2 months’ notice from tenant at any time; no minimum term required	Update tenancy templates and tenant check-in packs
Ground 8 threshold	Arrears must reach 3 months’ rent before court action; 4 weeks’ notice	Revise arrears management process; earlier intervention is critical
Rent increases	Once per year maximum via Section 13; 2 months’ minimum written notice	All rent reviews must use Section 13 procedure; keep written records
Discrimination ban	Cannot refuse applicants solely due to children or benefits receipt	Review all tenant selection criteria and property advertising copy
Rental bidding ban	Cannot invite or accept offers above the advertised rent	Set firm advertised prices; do not facilitate competitive bidding
Government Information Sheet	Must be provided to all existing tenants by 31 May 2026	Distribute to all managed tenants before deadline; log delivery confirmation

Use Cases for Agencies

• Sync portfolio data into BI dashboards
• Connect internal operations tools to live property records
• Build custom reporting workflows for landlord clients

Current v1 Endpoints

• GET /api/v1/ — endpoint map
• POST /api/v1/auth/token/ — issue/rotate API token
• GET /api/v1/me/ — authenticated agency user context
• GET /api/v1/properties/ — agency-owned property list

Setup Steps

1. Upgrade to Enterprise (or request api_access enablement).
2. Go to Subscriptions → Manage → API Setup and click Generate Key.
3. Use header Authorization: Token <your_token> in your integration.
4. Validate access with GET /api/v1/me/.
5. Start data sync via GET /api/v1/properties/.

Where to Paste the Key

• Zapier: In Webhooks step headers, add Authorization = Token <your_token>.
• Make: In HTTP module headers, add Authorization with Token <your_token>.
• Internal tools: Add the same header for every request to /api/v1/*.

Quick Troubleshooting

• 401: Check exact header format.
• 403: API entitlement is missing on current plan.
• Suspected exposure: Rotate key in Subscriptions → Manage → API Setup.

Security Controls

• Keep tokens in secure server-side secret storage.
• Rotate keys regularly with {"rotate": true} on token endpoint.
• Immediately rotate on staff offboarding or suspected exposure.

Common Questions from Letting Agents

Can I use BravoHomesUK to manage properties I don’t own?

Yes — agent accounts are designed for third-party landlord instructions. You can give landlords view-only portal access while you retain full management control.

Do I need to be ARLA or Propertymark registered?

Not a legal requirement, but strongly recommended. You must by law belong to an approved redress scheme (PRS or TPO) and a government-approved CMP scheme. Propertymark membership provides additional professional credibility.

Does BravoHomesUK hold client money?

No. BravoHomesUK provides a tracking and reconciliation tool. You continue to hold funds in your own ringfenced client bank account. The platform records what you owe each landlord to support your CMP compliance obligations.

Can I manage properties across different regions from one account?

Yes. There is no geographic restriction — manage properties across any number of postcodes, boroughs, or regions from a single agency dashboard.

What happens to my managed tenancies on 1 May 2026?

All existing ASTs automatically convert to periodic tenancies under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Section 21 notices cannot be served from that date. You must provide all managed tenants with the Government Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. BravoHomesUK tracks this compliance status across your entire portfolio automatically.

Can multiple team members access the agency account?

Yes — add property managers, admin staff, and accounts team from Dashboard → Team Management with role-based permissions (view-only, edit properties, approve payments, etc.).

What plan do I need for managing 50+ properties?

The Professional or Enterprise plan is recommended for agencies managing 50+ properties. View current pricing →