Moving your tenants, deposits and dates across in an import

Moving from a spreadsheet or another system is quicker when the whole record comes across, not just the address. These optional columns bring the tenants, the deposit and the key dates with each property.

Who this is for: letting agencies and landlords.

What you are deciding

Which columns to include, and what to put right after the import.

Your options

• Named tenants. Up to four: tenant_1_name, tenant_1_email and tenant_1_phone, then tenant_2_… to tenant_4_…. A tenant needs a name, email and phone to be recorded; one without is reported as a warning.
• The deposit. deposit_amount, deposit_received_on, deposit_scheme (DPS, TDS or mydeposits), deposit_reference and deposit_protected_on. Write none or 0 where no deposit was taken.
• Documents given. information_sheet_served_on or statement_of_terms_served_on, and written_agreement (yes or no).
• Right to Rent. right_to_rent_checked_on records a check made outside Abide.Rent on that date.

How to do it

1. Download the sample file from New import to see every column. Column names are matched on their letters and digits, so Tenant 1 Email and tenant_1_email both work.
2. Fill in what you have. Every new column is optional.
3. Import the file. If its headers look like a known export, such as an agency system or an OpenRent-style sheet, the page says so.
4. Read Still to do on the imported records: for example, 7 properties have no EICR. Each line links to the list where it is put right.
5. Invite tenants and landlords to the portal later, from Tenants or Landlords, when you are ready.

Nobody is emailed

An import records people; it never contacts them. No tenant, landlord or colleague is emailed or invited because they were in a file.

Dates that are only warnings

A date the deposit's prescribed information was given, or the date the last rent increase notice was served, is accepted as a reminder, not as a record. Attach the scheme's document on the tenancy, or record the past notice under Notices, so it counts.

A worked example

An agency moves 64 tenancies on Thursday 3 December 2026 from an export with tenant names, emails, phones, deposit amounts and schemes. All 64 import. The summary reads: 9 tenancies have no Right to Rent check recorded, 5 have a deposit with no protection date, 3 have no named tenant (their phone numbers were missing) and 11 properties have no EICR. Nobody was emailed. Over the next week the agency adds the protection dates, a deposit of £1,100.00 among them, uploads the EICRs, and invites the tenants when the records are complete.

What Abide.Rent does for you

• Reads the new columns, matching headers on their letters and digits and common names other systems use.
• Records named tenants, the deposit, document dates and the Right to Rent check on each tenancy.
• Counts what each import left to do and links to where to fix it; each row shows its own gaps.
• Sends no emails and no invitations.

If something goes wrong

• No tenant was invited after the import
  What to do: That is deliberate: an import emails nobody. Invite tenants from each tenancy when you are ready.
• The result lists gaps such as “No EICR”
  What to do: These are records the file did not have. Each line links to where you add them.
• A prescribed information date gave a warning
  What to do: It is kept as a note to check, because the date alone does not prove the right information was served.

Common mistakes

• Leaving out tenants' phone numbers. A tenant without email and phone is not added.
• Writing the scheme's full name in an unusual form. Use DPS, TDS or mydeposits.
• Expecting a prescribed information date in the file to count on its own. Attach the scheme's document.

What to do next

• Start an import
• Import properties from a spreadsheet
• Record a deposit