LLCR vs Hammock: Tax Records and Compliance Records Are Not the Same Thing

LLCR vs Hammock: Tax Records and Compliance Records Are Not the Same Thing

Hammock is landlord accounting software, HMRC recognised for Making Tax Digital, from £8 plus VAT a month for up to three properties. LLCR is a compliance evidence record, free for one property and £19 a month for five. Hammock answers to HMRC. LLCR answers to councils and courts.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Landlords should seek independent legal advice for their specific circumstances. It describes the position in England. Pricing was verified from each provider's published pages on 22 September 2026 and changes without notice.

Two different audiences for two different records

Most software comparisons treat features as the unit of analysis. For these two platforms, the more useful unit is the audience.

Hammock's output is read by HMRC and by your accountant. Its reason for existing is that from 6 April 2026 Making Tax Digital for Income Tax became mandatory for landlords whose combined trading and property income exceeded £50,000, with the threshold dropping in later years. Hammock keeps the digital records, reconciles rent against the bank feed, and files the quarterly updates and Final Declaration.

LLCR's output is read by a local authority enforcement officer, a tribunal, or a county court. Its reason for existing is that Section 21 was abolished in England on 1 May 2026, so every possession claim now runs through Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, and compliance history is examined as part of it.

Neither record substitutes for the other. A perfect set of accounts does not help when a council asks for the gas safety history, and a perfect certificate record does not file a quarterly update.

Verified pricing at September 2026

The HMO point deserves attention. Hammock's Basic plan at £8 plus VAT does not include HMO functionality, so an HMO landlord with two properties is on the Standard plan at £15 plus VAT rather than the headline rate. LLCR counts an HMO as one property whatever the room count.

What Hammock's compliance alerts actually do

Hammock states that it sends notifications and alerts about expiring documents and certificates. That is real and it is useful. It is also, by design, the lighter end of compliance functionality, because Hammock is an accounting platform with a compliance courtesy layer rather than a compliance platform.

What an expiry alert does not do:

• record when a document was served on the tenant, and with what evidence
• preserve a history that can be shown not to have been edited after the fact
• produce an indexed bundle a solicitor or council officer can work from
• connect a rent arrears position to the specific Section 8 ground being relied on
• log a reported hazard with a date stamp for a later disrepair defence

That is not a criticism of Hammock. It is a statement of scope, and Hammock is honest about its own scope.

Where Hammock is stronger

• MTD filing. Hammock was among the first landlord platforms recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital, and quarterly updates and the Final Declaration are included on every paid tier.
• Rent reconciliation. Unlimited bank feeds through Open Banking, with arrears tracked per property and per tenant in real time.
• Price at small scale. £8 plus VAT for up to three properties is at the cheap end of the UK market for a platform that files tax.
• Regulated status. Hammock is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority for account information services, registration number 911254, with read only access to bank data.
• Investment metrics. Loan to value, yields and per property profit and loss are produced automatically.

If your problem is a tax deadline, Hammock solves it and LLCR does not.

Where LLCR is stronger

• Proof of service. Records of what was sent, to whom, and when, which is the evidence most often missing when a possession claim is challenged.
• Tamper evident history. Each change is fingerprinted and chained, and the chain is independently timestamped daily, so an altered record is detectable rather than invisible.
• Statutory notice building. Form 3A for Section 8 possession and Form 4A for a Section 13 rent increase, generated with the date checks applied.
• Defence bundles. The Compliance Defence Pack exports an indexed evidence bundle for a property, with certificates and history in one file.
• Penalty exposure, totalled. LLCR calculates the civil penalty ceiling across the portfolio from the records held. A lapsed EICR alone can attract a civil penalty of up to £40,000 under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, set by the local authority on the facts of the case.
• A genuinely free tier. One active property with the full platform, including the Document Vault and Defence Pack. Hammock offers a 30 day trial, not a free plan.

The combined cost, and what it buys

At every size, the combined figure is smaller than a single day of a solicitor's time, and substantially smaller than the lower end of the civil penalty range for a single certificate breach.

Who should pick just one

• Below the MTD threshold, one or two properties. Start with LLCR's free plan and a spreadsheet. Add Hammock when the income threshold catches you.
• Above the threshold, properties managed by an agent who holds the certificates. Hammock alone is defensible, although landlords usually remain legally responsible for compliance even where an agent arranges the work, so keeping your own copy of the evidence is sensible.
• Self managing with tenants in arrears. The compliance record is the priority. Arrears based possession under Ground 8 requires the notice, the ledger and the certificate position all to hold up together.

Further reading: the 2026 roundup of landlord compliance software covers the wider market, the Renters' Rights Act era comparison explains why the software question split in two, and the EICR due date calculator will tell you in seconds whether your five year window has already closed.

Hammock users typically find the gap sits in service evidence rather than certificate storage. The free compliance checkershows where that gap is across your properties in about two minutes, with no account needed.