Properties & rooms: how-to

Step-by-step instructions for every properties and rooms task. For what each option means, see Properties & rooms; for problems, see Properties & rooms: troubleshooting.

Find your task

If you’re here because…	Go to
You’ve taken on a new property	Add a property, then Set up a new property
An HMO or block needs another room or unit	Add a room or unit
A room’s rent, deposit, name or photos are wrong	Edit a room or unit
A room is coming back on the market, or going off it	Change a room’s availability
A property’s type is wrong, or you want a block of units	Change a property’s rental type
You manage flats in one building, or want to group properties	Create a building and add properties to it
You can’t find a property in the list	Find a property
A property has left your portfolio	Deactivate a property
A room no longer exists, or was added by mistake	Deactivate a room or unit
You need records from a deactivated property	Reactivate a property or room
You want it gone for good	Delete a property, room or unit
You need a list of your properties	Export your properties

Add a property

Do this when you take on a property you’ll manage in COHO.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. If it’s a block of flats, decide whether each flat needs its own compliance certificates; if so, add each flat as a Single Let and group them in a building instead (see Create a building).

1. From your dashboard, open Menu > Properties and click New property.
2. Under What is the address?, search for the address and choose it.
3. Under Rental type?, choose HMO, Single Let or Short-term Let. For an HMO, enter How many rooms does it have? (1 to 50).
4. Under What is your relationship to the property?, choose Owned, Managed or Master lease. For Managed, enter the Management fee, VAT, when the fee is charged, and choose an Existing landlord or add a New landlord. Or click Skip this question for now.
5. Optionally, choose a team member under Assign actions for this property.
6. Click Save property.

What happens next: COHO opens the new property page. HMO rooms are named Room 1, Room 2 and so on, available from today with rent of £0. A setup checklist shows what to add next.

Note

If COHO asks for a payment method or to accept an extra charge, the property has been added but stays deactivated until you do. Choose Yes, or add a payment method, to activate it. No, take me back leaves it deactivated.

Set up a new property

Do this straight after adding a property, before you advertise it or start an onboarding.

1. On the property page, click Edit property.
2. Check the Name and, if you like, add What area of [town] is that?.
3. Set the tenant type, Headline Description, description, pictures, property type, furnishing, amenities and house rules.
4. For a single let, open Rent Details and set the rent, Tenant money held and guarantor.
5. Set the Minimum Term, Maximum Term and Are bills included?.
6. Click Update.
7. For an HMO or block, open each room or unit and set its name, rent and deposit (see Edit a room or unit).
8. Work through the tasks in the property completion section, such as adding certificates. Click End this process if you’d rather have them as Actions.

What happens next: the details appear on the Property Details panel and on any listings. New tenancies use the property’s bills setting unless you choose another.

Add a room or unit

Do this when an HMO or block has a room or unit that isn’t in COHO yet.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. To add it as occupied with its tenancy, you also need edit permission for Tenancies and Tenants.

1. Open the property and click Add room (or Add unit).
2. Enter the Room Name.
3. Enter the Rent and frequency, Tenant money held, whether a deposit replacement scheme is available, and the Guarantor requirement.
4. Under This room is…, choose Available, Available soon (then pick the date), or Occupied (then enter the tenancy and tenant).
5. Click Save, or Save and add another to add the next one.

What happens next: the room appears on the property page. If you chose Occupied, COHO creates the tenancy, and invites the tenant if you asked it to.

Note

Each room or unit is another unit on your bill. If it takes you over the units you pay for, COHO asks you to add a payment method or accept the charge, and the room stays deactivated until you do.

Edit a room or unit

Do this to change a room’s name, advertised rent, deposit, guarantor setting, description or photos.

1. Open the property, then click the room or unit.
2. On the Room details (or Unit details) panel, click Edit room.
3. Change what you need: name, description, images, rent, Tenant money held, guarantor, What type of room is it?, amenities, gender preference or bills.
4. Click Save changes.

What happens next: the room’s details and listings update. A tenancy that’s already in the room keeps its own rent; to change that, edit the tenancy (see Tenancies).

For a single let, use Edit property > Rent Details instead.

Change a room’s availability

Do this when a room comes back on the market, or should come off it.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties.

1. Open the room, or the property, and find its Availabilities panel. (You can also use the Availabilities panel on your dashboard.)
2. Click Change availability.
3. Choose Available and enter Available from, or choose Unavailable, pick an Unavailability reason and add Notes if you like.
4. Click Save.

What happens next: the room shows “This room is available from [date]” or “This room is unavailable”, with the reason. COHO updates the room’s listing.

Tip

When a tenant is leaving, you can set the room’s availability in the same step, with Mark the room as available? on Set tenancy end. COHO doesn’t do it for you when the tenancy ends.

Change a property’s rental type

Do this when a property is set up as the wrong type, or to turn a property into a Block of units.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. Write down your room names: changing to HMO or Block renames them.

1. Open the property and click Edit property.
2. Under Rental type?, choose HMO, Single Let, Short-term Let or Block. If a type can’t be chosen, the hint under it says why.
3. Click Update.
4. If your rooms or units were renamed, open each one and rename it (see Edit a room or unit).

What happens next:

• To HMO: rooms are renamed Room 1, Room 2 and so on.
• To Block: rooms become units, renamed Unit 1, Unit 2 and so on.
• To Single Let: the one room is renamed Property; the property page then shows Tenants.
• To Short-term Let from a single let: its room is deactivated, so it no longer counts as a separate unit.

Caution

To make a single let from an HMO, first deactivate every room but one. To make a short-term let from an HMO or block, deactivate every room or unit.

Create a building and add properties to it

Do this to group properties, for example flats in one block, so you can find them together and attach communal certificates once.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. Add the properties first.

1. On the Properties panel, click New building.
2. Under What tier is it?, choose Top level, or Sub Level and pick its Parent building.
3. For a top-level building, choose What type is it?: Physical Site, Geographical Region or Other Grouping.
4. Enter a Name (at least 3 characters). Tick Use a different name with external stakeholders to give tenants and suppliers a Public name.
5. Choose a Visual Icon and add a Description if you like.
6. Click Create building.
7. On the building page, choose the properties under Select properties and click Save.

What happens next: on the Properties panel, the building has its own section with its properties. When you add a compliance certificate to one of them, Certificate applies to lets you attach it to the Building instead; see Compliance.

To change a building later, click Edit on its section, then Edit group to change its details, or use Add properties and Remove properties. Delete building deletes it and its sub-buildings and unlinks its properties; the properties themselves aren’t deleted.

Find a property

1. Open the Properties panel.
2. Type in Search…: a name, street, town, postcode, area, or property owner’s name, email or phone number.
3. If you have more than 9 properties, click a town card (and then an area card), or turn on Show all.
4. To narrow it down, use Limit to tags….

If a property still doesn’t appear, check Actions only is off, and turn on Inactive to see deactivated properties.

Deactivate a property

Do this when a property leaves your portfolio, or to stop paying for it while keeping its records.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. Before you deactivate:

• end each tenancy with Set tenancy end (see Tenancies);
• deal with any arrears, payments and settlements: you can’t see a deactivated property’s rent in COHO;
• download any documents you’ll need, such as contracts and certificates;
• cancel any onboardings, viewings or maintenance jobs that won’t go ahead.

1. Open the property.
2. On the Property Details panel, click Deactivate property.
3. Read the message and click Deactivate.

What happens next: COHO takes you back to your dashboard. The property is greyed out under Inactive, stops counting towards your billed units, and its listings are removed (an OnTheMarket whole-property listing stays live: remove it yourself; see Property marketing & listings). Its tenancies, onboardings, maintenance issues and Actions are hidden, not closed.

Deactivate a room or unit

Do this when a room no longer exists, was added by mistake, or shouldn’t count towards your bill.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. End any tenancy in the room first. For a single let, deactivate the property instead.

1. Open the room or unit.
2. On the Room details (or Unit details) panel, click Deactivate room.
3. Click to confirm.

What happens next: the room is greyed out on the property page, stops counting towards your bill, and is taken off its listings. COHO stops adding rent for its tenancies.

Note

Marking a room Unavailable isn’t the same as deactivating it. An unavailable room is still active and still counts towards your bill.

Reactivate a property or room

Do this to bring a deactivated property or room back, including to look at or download its records.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. Reactivating counts towards your bill again.

1. On the Properties panel, turn on Inactive.
2. On the property, click Activate.
3. If COHO asks, add a payment method or accept the extra charge (Yes).
4. For a room, open the property and click Activate on the room’s card. The property must be active first.

What happens next: the property or room is back as it was, with its tenancies, history and documents. Any tenant invites that were waiting are sent. If you only needed records, download them and deactivate it again.

Delete a property, room or unit

Do this only when you’re sure you’ll never need the records.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. The property (or the room, or its property) must be deactivated first.

1. For a property: turn on Inactive on the Properties panel and click the delete icon on its greyed-out card.
2. For a room or unit: open the property and click the delete icon on the room’s greyed-out card.
3. Type DELETE in the box and click Delete.

What happens next: it’s removed from COHO for good.

Caution

“This cannot be undone.” You lose access to its tenancies, payments and documents. To stop paying for a property but keep its records, deactivate it instead.

Export your properties

1. On the Properties panel, set the filters you want: search, tags, area and Inactive.
2. Click Export (CSV) for a spreadsheet, or Report for a property report.

What happens next: the file downloads, containing the properties you’re viewing.