Running your HMOs on spreadsheets and WhatsApp vs Bricky Bot
Most HMO businesses start on a spreadsheet, a shared folder and a phone full of WhatsApp groups. It works, until it doesn’t. Here’s an honest look at where that line is.
Luke AshtonFounder of Bricky Bot and Based Lettings · Updated The short answer
- Stay on spreadsheets if you have a few houses, one person doing the work, rooms that rarely turn over, and you update the sheet the same day things happen. It’s free and you control it.
- Choose Bricky Bot if the sheet is always behind: enquiries waiting, rent checked late, certificates found expired, and what was agreed living in someone’s WhatsApp. Bricky’s AI team does that work and asks for your ✅ before anything goes out.
When spreadsheets are genuinely fine
A spreadsheet isn’t a mistake. For a small portfolio it’s fast, flexible and costs nothing. It works well when:
- one person runs everything and knows every house;
- tenants stay a long time, so lettings are occasional;
- you check the bank and update the sheet on a fixed day, every week;
- WhatsApp groups are few enough that nothing gets buried.
Where it starts to break
- Rooms turn over. Each room is its own tenancy, with its own rent day, deposit, notice and move-out. More rooms means more moving parts than a sheet can keep up with by hand.
- Enquiries pile up. SpareRoom and OpenRent messages arrive all day; the ones answered late go cold.
- WhatsApp holds the truth. A tenant reports a leak in the house group, a contractor confirms a time in another, and the sheet never hears about either.
- Dates get missed. Gas, electrical, EPC and HMO licence dates all sit in different rows. In England an HMO licence is valid for a maximum of five years (GOV.UK), so it’s exactly the kind of date a sheet forgets.
- More than one person. Two people editing the same sheet, and nobody sure who replied to whom.
Repairs are usually the first thing a spreadsheet loses track of; that’s the job of landlord maintenance software. Keeping the WhatsApp groups you already have, but linked to each tenancy, is the job of a landlord tenant communication app.
Outgrowing the spreadsheet altogether? Here’s what to look for in landlord software.
Side by side
| Spreadsheets + WhatsApp | Bricky Bot | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, plus your time | See pricing on brickybot.com |
| Enquiries | You read and reply on each portal | Every SpareRoom and OpenRent thread in one list, replies drafted from the house record |
| Groups on one phone, unlinked to anything | Groups on the business number, each linked to its house, lead or contractor record; every message given an owner | |
| Repairs | A row, if someone remembers to add it | Logged from the house chat, the known fix tried first, contractors booked after your ✅ |
| Certificates | Expiry dates in a column; you check them | Renewals opened inside their lead time, new certificates read and filed |
| Rent | You compare the bank statement with the sheet | Live bank feed matched to rent; late and short rent spotted; landlord statements drafted |
| Record of what happened | Whatever was typed in | Every action logged: who, what and when, on the record it touched |
| Your data | Yours | Yours, on your own Mac or Bricky Cloud, exportable in open formats |
If you’re staying on spreadsheets: what to track
- Rooms: tenant, rent and rent day, deposit amount and where it’s protected, tenancy start date, notice given and end date.
- Houses: every certificate and licence with its expiry date, plus the date you’ll start the renewal.
- Repairs: reported date, who’s doing it, when it was fixed and what it cost.
- Money: rent due vs received per room per month, and costs per house for the landlord’s statement.
- Habits: one fixed day a week to reconcile the bank and check dates for the next eight weeks.
If you’re adding a house and aren’t sure whether it needs an HMO licence or sits in an Article 4 area, Bricksmart, our sister product, has an HMO report that checks both for an address, free to start.
What Bricky Bot changes
Bricky is a team of eight specialist AI staff working in a full property CRM: houses, rooms, tenancies, deposits, certificates, repairs and money. They answer enquiries, run WhatsApp groups, chase repairs and renewals and draft landlord statements. Nothing goes out on its own: every message, advert, booking or payment waits for a person’s approval, in the app or straight from WhatsApp.
If your spreadsheet tracks rooms in shared houses, this is what dedicated HMO management software takes off your plate. Thinking of a low-cost records tool instead? Read Bricky Bot vs PaTMa.
Moving your spreadsheets across
We move your records and documents across from your spreadsheets and folders, keeping every date. That usually takes a day or two, and migration is included. Each sheet becomes linked records with a completeness meter: see our letting agent CRM.
Questions people ask
Can I run HMOs on a spreadsheet and WhatsApp?
Yes, and plenty of landlords do, especially with a handful of houses, one person doing the work and rooms that rarely turn over. It starts to break when rooms change hands often, more than one person is involved, or certificates and messages pile up faster than anyone can update the sheet.
What should an HMO spreadsheet track?
At minimum: every room with its tenant, rent, rent day, deposit and where it’s protected, tenancy start and notice dates; every certificate and licence with its expiry date; open repairs with who is doing them; and rent received against rent due, month by month.
When is it time to move off spreadsheets?
When you notice the sheet is behind reality: rent checked days late, a certificate found expired, an enquiry left unanswered, or only one person knowing what was agreed in a WhatsApp group. Those are signs the work needs a system, or a team, rather than a bigger sheet.
Does Bricky Bot replace WhatsApp?
No. Bricky works in the WhatsApp groups you already have with tenants, landlords and contractors, linking each group to its house, lead or contractor record. Every message the team prepares waits for a person’s approval before it goes.
How do you move my spreadsheets across?
We move your records and documents across: houses, rooms, tenants, landlords, certificates and the files in your folders, keeping every date. For spreadsheets and folders that usually takes a day or two, and migration is included.
See the team do the work
A short demo of Bricky handling real lettings work: enquiries, WhatsApp, repairs and approvals, with nothing sent until you say so.
Book a demoSources
- House in multiple occupation licence (GOV.UK, checked 1 October 2026)
- Bricksmart HMO report (Bricksmart, our sister product)