Hammock Review UK 2026: In-Depth Analysis

Hammock is a UK-built, mobile-first property finance and tax platform aimed squarely at private landlords. It connects to UK bank accounts via Open Banking, automatically reconciles rent and expenses against the right property and tenancy, and turns the result into a running tax statement mapped to the SA105 property pages. As of the 2026/27 tax year, Hammock is one of a small number of HMRC-recognised platforms that supports Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) end to end, and it was the first landlord-specific tool to achieve that recognition. This review looks at what it does well, where it falls short, and which UK landlords should and should not pick it.

Quick verdict

• Who it is for: UK landlords with between one and roughly fifty buy-to-let or HMO units who want automated bookkeeping, MTD ITSA filing and portfolio analytics in one mobile-first app.
• Who it is not for: Landlords who also run a meaningful self-employed trade alongside rental income, accountants wanting a full general ledger product, or anyone with overseas property as a primary asset.
• Headline price: £8 plus VAT per month for one to three properties on the Basic plan; £15 plus VAT per month for the Standard plan covering up to ten properties.
• MTD status: HMRC-recognised for MTD ITSA quarterly updates and final declaration.
• Free trial: 30 days, full features, no card required.

What is Hammock?

Hammock is a London-based property finance company founded in 2019 by Manoj Varsani and a small team of fintech operators. It is privately held, has raised in the region of $5.5m in venture funding, and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for account information services under firm reference number 911254. The product is built only for the UK property market: every category, tax form mapping and bank feed assumes UK rules and UK banks, and there is no US or EU equivalent.

The target user is a private landlord, from a single accidental landlord with one inherited flat through to a portfolio investor running twenty or thirty units across multiple SPVs. Hammock is not pitched at letting agents managing client money, and it is not a property management suite that handles maintenance tickets, tenant communications or check-in inventories. It is a finance and tax tool first, and the design choices reflect that: most landlords spend their time inside the rent-tracking dashboard, the tax statement, or the mobile receipt capture screen rather than tenant-facing modules.

The MTD ITSA angle has shaped the roadmap heavily. With MTD ITSA becoming mandatory from April 2026 for sole-trader landlords whose combined gross trading and property income exceeded £50,000 in 2024/25, and the threshold dropping further in subsequent years, Hammock has positioned itself as the path of least resistance for landlords who do not already use a general accounting platform.

Pricing breakdown

Hammock prices on a sliding scale by property count, not by feature set. Every plan includes the full feature stack, including MTD ITSA filing, unlimited bank feeds, HMO support and bookkeeping. There are no add-on fees for filing or extra users.

Plan	Properties	Monthly (excl. VAT)	Annual (excl. VAT)	Effective monthly
Basic	1 to 3	£8	£76.80	£6.40
Standard	4 to 10	£15	£144.00	£12.00
Plus	11 to 20	£25	£240.00	£20.00
Beyond	21 plus	£31.50	£302.40	£25.20

Annual billing carries a 20 per cent discount in every band. There is a 30-day free trial with no payment details required up front, and accountants who manage multiple landlord clients are quoted on a custom basis through a sales call rather than self-serve sign-up.

Worked example: a five-property landlord

A landlord with five buy-to-let properties in 2026/27 falls into the Standard plan. Paid annually, that is £144 plus VAT, or roughly £172.80 including VAT, which works out at about £14.40 per month all in. For context, that is a similar order of magnitude to a single FreeAgent subscription, except that Hammock natively handles five properties, files the MTD ITSA quarterly updates for the property income, and produces a Section 24 calculation, none of which FreeAgent does in a property-aware way.

For the same landlord on monthly billing, the cost is £15 plus VAT, or £18 per month inclusive, totalling £216 over a year. The annual discount is therefore worth around £43 in real money on the Standard band.

Core features in depth

Rent tracking and arrears

Once a landlord adds a property, a tenancy and a rent amount, Hammock watches the connected bank feed for matching deposits. When a payment lands, the platform reconciles it against the expected rent, marks the tenancy as up to date, and pushes a real-time notification to the mobile app. If a payment is late, the dashboard flags the arrears balance per tenant rather than just per property, which is useful for HMOs where one room may be in arrears while the rest are paid up.

The matching logic copes with typical UK quirks: rent received in two instalments, rent paid by a guarantor or parent on behalf of a tenant, and rent paid in advance. Manual override is available where the algorithm guesses wrong, and the override is remembered for next time.

Bank reconciliation

Hammock connects to over fifty UK bank and credit card feeds via Open Banking, including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander, Monzo, Starling, Revolut and most major business accounts. Connections are read-only by design: the platform cannot move money or initiate payments, which is part of how it stays inside the FCA account information services perimeter.

Bank feeds are unlimited on every plan, so a landlord with personal, joint and limited company accounts feeding the same portfolio is not penalised. Transactions are auto-categorised against HMRC-aligned expense categories, and the user can split a single bank line across multiple properties, which is essential for portfolio insurance, accountancy fees or shared utility bills.

SA105 tax statement

The headline tax output is a running property income statement mapped to the SA105 self-assessment property pages. Income lines, allowable expenses, finance costs and capital allowances all sit in their correct boxes. At any point in the tax year a landlord can see a current-year forecast of taxable property profit, broken down per property, with a separate working for the Section 24 finance cost relief.

This matters in 2026/27 because finance costs (mortgage interest, arrangement fees, overdraft interest on a property loan) are no longer deductible from rental income for individual landlords. They generate a 20 per cent tax reducer instead. Hammock applies that calculation automatically and shows the resulting tax liability rather than leaving the landlord to back into it.

MTD ITSA filing

Hammock supports the full MTD ITSA flow for property income: quarterly updates for each of the four periods, plus the end-of-period statement and final declaration. The submission happens directly from the platform to HMRC after a single OAuth handshake. The user does not need bridging software, and the quarterly summary screen previews exactly what will be sent before submission.

If a landlord also has self-employment income, that part needs to be reported through different software because Hammock does not handle trading income. Many landlords pair Hammock with an accountant or with a separate sole-trader product, which is workable but adds friction.

Mortgage and property analytics

Beyond the tax view, Hammock offers a portfolio dashboard with loan-to-value per property, gross and net yields, occupancy rate, and arrears balance per tenant. Mortgage interest is tracked from the bank feed, and the platform can show interest paid over a chosen period without the landlord having to dig through statements. Capital balances and remortgage events have to be entered manually, since Open Banking only sees the cash flow, not the underlying loan terms.

Mobile app

The mobile app on iOS and Android is the primary interface for most users. Receipt capture is one tap, with OCR pulling the supplier, amount and date and offering a category guess. Push notifications cover rent received, rent overdue, large unexpected outgoings, and quarterly MTD deadlines. The web app mirrors the same data for users who prefer a larger screen, particularly during tax filing.

MTD and HMRC compliance

Hammock holds HMRC recognition for MTD ITSA, covering both quarterly updates and final declaration for property income. It is listed on the official HMRC software list for MTD for Income Tax. It does not need bridging software for property reporting.

For VAT, Hammock is not generally relevant: residential rental income is exempt rather than standard-rated, so most landlords are not VAT-registered for their property activity. Commercial property landlords who have opted to tax need a different platform.

For corporation tax, Hammock is not the right tool. Limited company landlords (an SPV holding buy-to-lets) can use Hammock to track property finances and get clean management figures, but the corporation tax return itself needs to be filed through dedicated CT software or by an accountant.

Integrations

Bank feeds cover all major UK high-street and challenger banks via Open Banking, plus most UK credit cards. The platform also offers a Xero integration listed on the Xero App Store, which lets accountants pull property data into Xero for clients who use Xero as their primary ledger. There is no native QuickBooks Online integration as of the 2026 review window, although Hammock has been involved in joint MTD initiatives with QuickBooks for landlord clients.

Receipt capture is built in rather than handled through a Dext or AutoEntry integration. There is an accountant access mode that allows a practice to log in to a client account in a clearly marked viewer role, which keeps the audit trail clean.

There is no integration with property portals, tenant referencing services, or maintenance ticketing tools. That is a deliberate scope choice: Hammock leaves operational property management to specialist tools and concentrates on the financial layer.

Pros

• Genuinely landlord-native data model: properties, tenancies, units within HMOs, and per-tenant arrears are first-class objects rather than bolted-on tags.
• Section 24 finance cost relief is calculated automatically and visible at any point in the tax year.
• HMRC-recognised for MTD ITSA quarterly updates and final declaration on property income, with no bridging software needed.
• Unlimited bank feeds on every plan, including personal, joint and SPV accounts, which suits the way most landlords actually structure their finances.
• SA105-aligned tax statement removes the year-end mapping work that landlords usually pay an accountant to do.
• Read-only Open Banking connection and FCA registration provide a clean security and regulatory posture.
• Strong mobile experience including OCR receipt capture and push notifications for late rent.
• Per-property profit and loss, plus loan-to-value and yield analytics, give portfolio investors visibility that a general accounting tool would not.

Cons

• Useful only for landlords. Anyone with a meaningful self-employed trade, contracting income or e-commerce business needs a second piece of software for that side.
• No native QuickBooks Online integration, which is a friction point for landlords whose accountant works in QuickBooks rather than Xero.
• No corporation tax filing for SPVs; limited company landlords still need separate CT software.
• Not a fit for letting agents managing client money or for landlords with significant overseas property portfolios.
• Some users report friction with specific banks (Metro Bank has been mentioned) and occasional UI quirks on the iPhone date picker.
• Pricing is per property band, so a landlord with eleven properties pays the Plus rate that also covers up to twenty; there is a step rather than a smooth curve.
• Live chat support hours are weekday office hours only, which is fine for tax tasks but less useful for evening portfolio reviews.

When to pick Hammock

Pick Hammock if you are a private UK landlord whose primary or only business activity is residential property, you want the MTD ITSA filing handled inside the same tool that does your bookkeeping, and you would rather work from a phone than a desktop spreadsheet. It suits buy-to-let portfolio investors, accidental landlords with a single property, and HMO operators with multi-tenant arrears tracking needs. The 2026/27 introduction of MTD ITSA for landlords above the £50,000 threshold makes Hammock a particularly natural choice for that group, because the path from bank feed to quarterly submission is essentially one product.

It is also a sensible pick for limited company landlords who want clean management accounts at property level, even though the CT600 itself will be filed elsewhere. Accountants with a dedicated property client base often standardise on Hammock for those clients to avoid forcing a general ledger tool into a property shape it was never designed for.

When NOT to pick Hammock

Avoid Hammock if rental income is one of several income streams. A freelancer or consultant who also lets out a flat would be better served by FreeAgent, which handles self-employment, dividends and a small property portfolio in one place, even if its property features are less polished than Hammock’s. A sole trader with a single rental property could pair Coconut for the trading side with a simple spreadsheet for the rent rather than running two MTD products in parallel.

Landlords running a substantial portfolio inside an SPV who also need full statutory accounts and corporation tax should look at Xero with a property-focused chart of accounts and a Hammock-style add-on, or at a practice-managed setup using a general ledger tool. Letting agents handling client money need a regulated client account product such as Arthur or PayProp rather than a landlord finance tool.

Comparable software

Hammock sits in a small but growing category of UK landlord-specific finance tools. Landlord Studio offers a similar property-aware data model with a slightly different pricing approach and stronger letting agent features. FreeAgent overlaps for landlords who also have self-employment income, while Coconut covers sole traders well but does not have property awareness. Xero is the obvious general ledger comparison for landlords who already work with an accountant. The card grid below is generated from tag overlap with Hammock and surfaces the most relevant alternatives across the directory.

FAQs

Is Hammock HMRC-recognised for Making Tax Digital?

Yes. Hammock is listed by HMRC as recognised software for MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment, covering quarterly updates and final declaration for property income. It was the first landlord-specific platform to achieve that recognition.

Does Hammock handle the Section 24 finance cost restriction?

Yes. Hammock applies the Section 24 rules automatically. Mortgage interest and other finance costs are excluded from the property profit calculation and instead generate a 20 per cent basic-rate tax reducer, which the tax statement reflects in real time.

Can I use Hammock if I own properties through a limited company?

Yes for the bookkeeping and management reporting side. Hammock will reconcile rent and expenses for an SPV in the same way it does for a personal portfolio. The corporation tax return itself needs to be filed through dedicated CT software or by an accountant; Hammock does not produce a CT600.

Does Hammock support HMOs and multi-tenant rooms?

Yes. HMO support is included on every plan from the Standard tier upwards, with per-room rent expectations and per-tenant arrears tracking rather than a single rent figure for the building.

Does Hammock provide a property bank account?

Hammock connects to existing UK bank accounts via Open Banking but does not issue its own bank account. It is FCA-registered for account information services rather than as a banking provider, and connections are read-only.

Will Hammock work if I also have self-employment income?

Hammock only handles property income. If you also run a self-employed trade, you will need a second piece of MTD ITSA software for that income stream and submit two sets of quarterly updates.

Does Hammock integrate with Xero or QuickBooks?

Hammock has a Xero integration available through the Xero App Store, which suits accountants who run Xero as the practice ledger. There is no native QuickBooks Online integration at the time of writing.

How much does Hammock cost for a typical small landlord?

A landlord with up to three properties pays £8 plus VAT per month on monthly billing, or the equivalent of £6.40 per month plus VAT on annual billing. Up to ten properties costs £15 plus VAT per month on monthly billing.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. Hammock offers a 30-day free trial with full feature access and does not require payment details up front.

Can my accountant log in to my Hammock account?

Yes. Hammock provides accountant access so a practice can review a client’s data, prepare submissions and check the tax statement without taking over the client’s primary login.

Final summary

Hammock is the most narrowly focused MTD ITSA tool on the UK market, and that focus is its strength. By treating properties, tenancies and SA105 categories as native objects rather than tags layered on a general ledger, it solves the property landlord workflow far more cleanly than any general accounting platform can. The Section 24 calculation, automated rent reconciliation and HMRC-recognised MTD ITSA filing combine into a product that genuinely removes work rather than reshuffling it, and the pricing is reasonable across every portfolio size from one flat to a fifty-unit operation.

The flip side is that Hammock will only ever do one thing. Anyone whose finances mix property with self-employment, dividends, e-commerce or limited company trading will need a second tool, and the lack of a native QuickBooks Online integration is a real gap for accountant-paired landlords who happen to be on QuickBooks rather than Xero. For landlords whose entire taxable activity is rental income, though, and especially those facing the 2026/27 MTD ITSA mandate, Hammock is the path of least resistance and a very strong default choice. Start with the 30-day free trial against a real bank feed and a real tax year before committing.