Welcome packs: how-to

Step-by-step instructions for Welcome Packs, information storage and Property Access. For what each panel and option means, see Welcome packs & information storage; for problems, see Welcome packs: troubleshooting.

Find your task

If you’re here because…	Go to
You want every tenant to have the same information	Add to every tenant’s Welcome Pack
You want to tell one house its Wi-Fi, bins or house rules	Add to one property’s Welcome Pack
Something applies to one room only	Add to one room’s Welcome Pack
Something applies to one tenancy only	Add a card to one tenancy
An organisation item shouldn’t show at one property	Hide an organisation item at one property
Something has changed or is no longer needed	Edit or delete an item or card
You need somewhere private for a note or document	Store information for your team only
The owner should see a document	Share a card with the property owner
You want a QR code on the wall	Share a Welcome Pack by link or QR code
Your Actions list says Configure Property Access, or there’s no Property Access panel	Turn Property Access on or off
You’ve fitted a key safe or changed a code	Add an access code
A tenant or landlord needs a code, or shouldn’t have it any more	Share or stop sharing a code
You’re on site and need a code	Find a code quickly
A contractor needs to get in	Give a supplier access codes for a job
A colleague should only see access codes	Give someone access to codes only
A new tenant is moving in	Prepare information for a move-in

Add to every tenant’s Welcome Pack

Do this when information is the same for all your tenants, such as how to report maintenance or your out-of-hours number.

Before you start: you need permission to change info boxes. Everything here is visible to all your tenants.

1. From your dashboard, click Menu > Welcome Pack.
2. For a short item, click Add item (or Add another item) under Quick Info. Enter a Label and the Information (up to 50 characters each), then click Save.
3. For anything longer, click Add card (or Add another card) under Info Cards. Enter a Title, then add a Description, Images, Files or a Video link. Click Create.

What happens next: the item appears straight away in the Welcome Pack of every tenant in every property, unless you hide it at a property. Tenants aren’t notified.

Add to one property’s Welcome Pack

Do this for information that applies to everyone in one property, such as Wi-Fi details, bin days or a house guide.

Before you start: you need permission to change info boxes.

1. Open the property page and find the Welcome Pack panel.
2. Under Quick Info, click Add item, enter a Label and the Information, then click Save.
3. Under Information Cards, click Add card, fill in the card, then click Create.

What happens next: every tenant in the property sees it, in every room. Organisation items are listed separately under Inherited from all Properties.

Tip

If you share this property’s Welcome Pack by public link or QR code, anyone with the link can see what you add here. Keep door codes in Property Access.

Add to one room’s Welcome Pack

Do this for details that only matter to the tenants of one room, such as the room’s own appliance.

1. Open the room page and find the Welcome Pack panel.
2. Click Add item under Quick Info, or Add card under Information Cards.
3. Fill it in and click Save or Create.

What happens next: only tenants of that room see it. It stays with the room, so the next tenant of the room sees it too. Remove it at change-over if it’s no longer right.

Add a card to one tenancy

Do this for information that belongs to one tenancy and shouldn’t carry on to the next tenant.

1. Open the room page and find the Tenant Information panel.
2. Under Public Tenancy Information Cards, click Add public card. (For a team-only card, use Add card under Private Tenancy Information Cards instead.)
3. Fill in the card and click Create.

What happens next: a public card is visible to all tenants of this tenancy, in their My Room (or My Home) panel. A private card is visible to your team only.

Hide an organisation item at one property

Do this when an organisation-wide item doesn’t apply to one property, for example HMO house rules at a single let.

1. Open the property page and find the Welcome Pack panel.
2. Open Inherited from all Properties (under Quick Info or Information Cards).
3. Click Hide on the item.

What happens next: the item is greyed out on your panel and tenants in this property no longer see it. It’s also left out of this property’s public link. Click Unhide to show it again.

Note

You can’t hide items for one room. If a property item doesn’t apply to every room, add it to the rooms it does apply to instead.

Edit or delete an item or card

1. Go to the panel where the item was added. (Inherited items can only be changed at the organisation level.)
2. For Quick Info, click Edit, change the text and click Save; or click Delete.
3. For a card, click Edit, make your changes and click Update; or click Delete, then Delete again to confirm.

What happens next: tenants (and the owner, if shared) see the change straight away.

Caution

Deleting a Quick Info item happens straight away, without asking. Deleted items and cards can’t be restored in COHO.

Store information for your team only

Do this for anything tenants shouldn’t see: warranties, utility account numbers, meter readings, alarm codes, supplier instructions, or certificates COHO doesn’t have a compliance record for.

1. Choose the level:
   • whole business: Menu > Private Info (Misc Information Storage);
   • one property: the property’s Property Information panel;
   • one room: the room’s Room Information panel;
   • one tenancy: Private Tenancy Information Cards in the room’s Tenant Information panel;
   • one tenant: Custom field > Add in that tenant’s details.
2. Add a Quick Info item or a card, the same way as in a Welcome Pack.

What happens next: only your team sees it. Organisation items also show on each property’s Property Information panel under Inherited from all Properties.

Tip

COHO doesn’t remind you about dates you write in a card. If you’re storing a certificate or contract with an expiry date, also add an Action as a reminder.

Share a card with the property owner

Do this when an owner should see a document, such as a warranty or a guide.

Before you start: the property must have an owner (a managed or rent-to-rent property), and the owner needs to have joined COHO.

1. Open the property page, and the Welcome Pack or Property Information panel.
2. Add a card, or click Edit on an existing one.
3. Under Sharing, tick Share with property owner.
4. Click Create or Update.

What happens next: the card shows Shared with owner, and the owner sees it in the Property Information panel of their dashboard. Only property-level cards can be shared; Quick Info and room cards can’t.

Share a Welcome Pack by link or QR code

Do this to put a QR code up in a property, or to share the Welcome Pack with someone who doesn’t use COHO.

1. Click Menu > Welcome Pack, then the settings cog.
2. Open Public URL and choose a property.
3. Click Copy link, or print the QR code.

What happens next: anyone with the link sees the organisation and property Welcome Pack items for that property, without logging in. Items you’ve hidden at the property, room items, tenancy cards and access codes aren’t included.

Caution

The link can’t be switched off or changed later. Only use it if everything in that property’s Welcome Pack is fine to be public.

Turn Property Access on or off

Do this the first time you use Property Access, or to stop using it at a property.

1. Open the property page and find the Property Access panel.
2. Click the settings cog.
3. Choose Manual to use it, or Off to turn it off.
4. If asked, read the terms and tick I agree to the terms & conditions. Tick Set as default for future properties if you want the same for new properties.
5. To apply this to every property, tick Save for all properties (or Save for all properties in this building). Click Save, and confirm.

What happens next: with Manual, you can add codes. The Configure Property Access Action clears once the terms are accepted. With Off, codes can’t be added, changed or deleted, and the owner no longer sees them.

Caution

Save for all properties changes every property in your portfolio. Check before you confirm.

Add an access code

Do this when you fit a key safe, change a lock code, or want a record of where keys are kept.

Before you start: you need permission to change access codes and keys, and Property Access must be on for the property.

1. Open the property page and find the Property Access panel. (Or use Menu > Property Access and Select a property.)
2. Click Add access code.
3. Enter a Name, such as “Front door key safe”, and the Access code.
4. Under Share with, leave Whole property, or choose a room so only that room’s tenants can see it. (This isn’t shown for single lets.)
5. Tick Share to housemates if tenants should see it, and Share to landlord if the owner should.
6. Click Save.

What happens next: the code is saved for your team. If shared, tenants see it in their Property Access panel once their tenancy has started, and the owner sees it on their dashboard. Nobody is notified.

Tip

Add each key or code as its own entry, for example “Front door”, “Back door”, “Room 3”. COHO doesn’t track who has a physical key.

Share or stop sharing a code

1. Open the Property Access panel for the property.
2. On the code’s row, switch Housemates or Landlord on or off.
3. To change the room, name or code, click the edit icon, make your changes and click Save.

What happens next: the change applies straight away. If you’ve changed the code itself, tell anyone who already knows the old one; COHO doesn’t send it.

Find a code quickly

• Menu > Property Access, then Select a property.
• In the Property Access panel, click the “bookmark a standalone version of this page” link and bookmark it on your phone. It opens just Property Access.
• Type the code’s name, or the code, in the search bar at the top of COHO.

Note

The bookmark page needs an internet connection and a COHO login. Codes aren’t stored on your phone.

Give a supplier access codes for a job

Do this when a contractor needs to let themselves in for a maintenance job.

1. Open the maintenance issue and share it with the supplier, as usual.
2. At Share access codes?, choose the codes they need.
3. Send it.

What happens next: the supplier sees the codes under Shared access codes on the job in COHO. If you change a code afterwards, share the job again with the new code.

Give someone access to codes only

Do this for someone like an out-of-hours call handler who only needs codes.

1. Create a role in Users and roles that only allows viewing access codes and keys.
2. Add the person as a user with that role.

What happens next: they can see access codes, but not tenants, finances or other information.

Prepare information for a move-in

Do this before a new tenant moves in, so their dashboard has what they need.

1. Check the property’s Welcome Pack, including Inherited from all Properties, and hide anything that doesn’t apply.
2. Check the room’s Welcome Pack, and remove anything left for the previous tenant.
3. In Property Access, check the codes are current, and that the ones the tenant needs have Housemates on (and the right room).
4. Send your move-in details from the onboarding’s Follow up step. See Onboarding.

What happens next: the tenant sees the Welcome Pack on their dashboard as soon as the contract is confirmed, and the shared access codes once the tenancy starts. COHO doesn’t send the Welcome Pack itself, so you may want to mention it in your move-in details.