Letting agents use TenantAlert to catch problem tenants before they become problem tenancies
TenantAlert is a shared adverse tenant database built specifically for UK letting agents. You search it before you reference a new applicant, and you file a record when a tenancy goes wrong. Other agents do the same. The result is a network of real tenancy history — not credit scores, not affordability ratios, but actual behaviour data from agents who have managed these tenants.
What Section 21 abolition means for letting agents
Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026. Agents and landlords can no longer serve a no-fault eviction notice to remove a problem tenant quickly. Every possession case now requires a grounds-based route through the courts, which takes longer and costs more. The practical implication is straightforward: the cost of placing a bad tenant has increased significantly, because removing that tenant has become harder.
In this environment, prevention is the only efficient strategy. Vetting applicants more thoroughly before they are offered a tenancy is now more important than it has ever been. TenantAlert is a prevention tool. It gives agents access to adverse tenancy history that no other referencing product currently provides — history filed by agents who have already experienced the cost of placing that tenant.
What letting agents use TenantAlert for
How TenantAlert fits into your existing workflow
TenantAlert runs in a browser tab. There is no software to install and no change to your current systems. A search takes a name and date of birth — information you already have at application stage — and returns a result in seconds. Filing takes approximately five minutes, including uploading supporting evidence.
TenantAlert works alongside existing referencing tools, not instead of them. Credit checks, employment verification, landlord references, and income assessments all remain in your process. TenantAlert adds one layer that those checks cannot provide: tenancy behaviour history from other agents. Integrations with Reapit, Arthur Online, Jupix, and PayProp are in development, which will allow searches to be triggered directly from within your property management software.
This is the most common question agents ask before joining, and it has a clear answer. Letting agents already share tenant data with multiple third parties as a routine part of their work: tenancy deposit schemes, referencing companies, credit bureaus, local authorities, and courts. Sharing adverse tenancy data with TenantAlert sits in the same category of processing. The lawful basis is Article 6(1)(f) of UK GDPR — Legitimate Interests — which allows personal data to be shared where there is a genuine and proportionate reason to do so, and where the individual's rights have been properly weighed against that interest. TenantAlert's legal basis is currently undergoing independent legal review.
TenantAlert Ltd is registered with the ICO (registration number ZC134269). Every agent approved to use the platform receives a compliance pack with guidance on tenant-facing disclosure, Subject Access Request handling, and retention periods. Full details are on the compliance page.
How the database is built
TenantAlert is built by the agents who use it. The records you and other members file are the records the whole network can search. If you are filing, you are contributing to a shared defence and drawing on it; if you are not, you are relying on other agents to file on your behalf. Filing is free on every plan.
TenantAlert is currently onboarding Founding Members — the first cohort of agents to join the platform. Founding Members get Pro access, including unlimited searches, up to three branches, and priority moderation, for £79 per month. The Founding Member badge is a permanent marker of early adoption on your agency profile. The Founding Member offer is available while places remain.
See the full offer