"It's not one big failure, it's small gaps in how the business runs day to day. A process that isn't quite right. A safeguard that's missing. A system that doesn't fully support the new rules"
- Nick Shaw - Alto
Letting agents could face fines of up to £7,000 per breach under the Renters' Rights Act, rising to £40,000 for repeat offences, with many at risk of falling foul of the new rules from 1 May without realising it.
Because some penalties apply per tenancy, minor gaps in process or systems can escalate quickly into serious financial exposure across an agency's portfolio. To help agents understand where they stand, property management software provider Alto has launched a free Renters' Rights Risk Calculator ahead of the first phase of enforcement.
The tool asks agents a series of practical questions about their setup, covering tenancy structures, rent controls, audit trails and compliance processes, before identifying gaps and translating them into estimated fine exposure and operational risk.
"We're already seeing agents underestimate how exposed they are," said Nick Shaw, chief revenue officer at Alto. "It's not one big failure; it's small gaps in how the business runs day to day. A process that isn't quite right. A safeguard that's missing. A system that doesn't fully support the new rules."
"On their own, those don't always get picked up. But under the Renters' Rights Act, they carry real financial risk, and that risk multiplies across every tenancy you manage."
The Renters' Rights Act represents one of the most significant operational shifts the lettings sector has faced in decades. Key changes include the move to periodic tenancies, the abolition of Section 21 no-fault evictions, tighter rent controls, and considerably higher expectations around compliance and record keeping.
Alto has embedded a series of product updates directly into its lettings workflow to reflect those changes. These cover the creation of periodic tenancies from day one, safeguards to prevent rental bidding above advertised prices, automated rent review controls, full timestamped audit trails across every tenancy, and bulk conversion tools for existing portfolios.
The aim is to absorb compliance into the system itself, reducing reliance on manual workarounds and the risk of human error.
"The challenge isn't understanding the rules; it's applying them consistently across hundreds of tenancies," said Owen, product director at Alto. "If your system doesn't support that, your team ends up carrying the risk. And that's where mistakes happen."
The calculator is designed to help agents prioritise immediate risks ahead of 1 May, while also flagging further exposure as additional measures under the Act come into force later this year.
Shaw added: "The agents who get ahead of this now will be in a much stronger position, not just from a compliance point of view, but commercially as well."
