Landlord Rent Tracking & MTD ITSA
Tenant City tracks rent income across your portfolio — every payment logged, every arrear flagged, every tenancy with a complete payment history. For landlords filing quarterly MTD ITSA returns, Tenant City integrates directly with Xero — pushing rental income records to your Xero chart of accounts automatically.
Rent tracking — what Tenant City does today
- Payment logging — record each rent payment against a tenancy. Date, amount, and payment method logged per transaction.
- Arrears tracking — the platform highlights when rent is overdue and shows the running arrears balance per tenancy.
- Full payment history — every payment across the life of a tenancy is stored and can be exported — court-ready arrears evidence if needed for Section 8 Ground 8.
- Portfolio rent view — see total expected rent income and actual received income across all properties in one dashboard.
- Section 13 rent increase integration — when a Section 13 rent increase takes effect, the new rent amount is updated in the payment tracking automatically.
MTD ITSA — what landlords need to know
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) requires landlords with property income above £50,000 to submit quarterly digital returns to HMRC from April 2026, with the threshold dropping to £30,000 from April 2027.
Under MTD ITSA, landlords must:
- Keep digital records of property income and expenses
- Submit quarterly updates to HMRC via compatible software
- Submit a final declaration (replacing the Self Assessment return) by 31 January each year
Landlords must use HMRC-recognised software to submit — a spreadsheet emailed to an accountant is no longer compliant.
Xero integration — live now
Live now: Tenant City integrates with Xero to push rental income records directly into your Xero chart of accounts — making MTD ITSA quarterly submission straightforward for landlords who use Xero as their accounting system. Connect your Xero account from the accounting settings in your portal dashboard.
The integration maps rental income to the appropriate Xero account codes, with each payment linked to the corresponding tenancy and property. Your accountant can work directly in Xero knowing the rental income data is already there.
Using rent records for Section 8 proceedings
Since Section 21 was abolished, Section 8 is the only way to end a tenancy a tenant doesn't want to leave. Ground 8 (mandatory possession for 2+ months' arrears) requires the arrears to be provable at both the notice stage and the court hearing.
Tenant City's rent payment history gives you a clean, exportable record of every payment and every missed payment — exactly what you need to evidence Ground 8 arrears at a possession hearing.
Frequently asked questions
Does Tenant City connect directly to my bank account?
Not currently — payments are logged manually. Direct bank feed integration (auto-matching bank transactions to rent payments) is on the roadmap. In the meantime, Xero integration means your logged payments are automatically pushed to Xero, so your accountant always has up-to-date records.
Can I export rent data for my accountant?
Yes — payment history per tenancy can be exported. Your accountant can use this to prepare your Self Assessment or quarterly MTD updates.
How does the Xero integration work?
Connect your Xero account from the accounting settings in your dashboard. Tenant City pushes rental income records to your Xero chart of accounts as payments are logged — each payment is linked to the tenancy and property it belongs to. Your accountant sees the income in Xero without you having to export anything manually.
Does Tenant City do my tax return?
No — Tenant City tracks rental income for property management purposes. For tax filing, you or your accountant will use the exported data with MTD-compatible software.
This page is for general information only. MTD ITSA requirements are subject to HMRC guidance — always verify obligations with a qualified accountant.