What Holdfast does — and what it doesn't
Holdfast is built for one type of landlord: small, private, self-managing, England only. It covers the parts of landlording that other property tools skip over — the legal process around possession.
At its core, Holdfast does three things:
- Compliance tracking. It keeps a record of your gas safety certificates, electrical reports, energy performance certificates, and the How to Rent guide — and tells you when each one is due for renewal.
- Section 8 notice generation. It identifies the right ground for your situation, checks whether your prerequisites are met, calculates the correct notice period, and produces a completed Form 3A PDF ready to serve.
- Evidence bundle assembly. It pulls together the documents you'll need if the case goes to court — certificate records, notice copies, service evidence — into a single organised file.
Holdfast is not a substitute for a solicitor. For straightforward, well-documented cases, it reduces the risk of a procedural error invalidating your notice. For anything contested, unusual, or complex, you should instruct a solicitor. The tool tells you which — it won't overpromise.
Step by step: getting started
- Create an account. Sign up at the top of this page. The free plan gives you full access to the compliance tracker and compliance checker. No credit card needed to start.
- Add a property. Go to Properties in the dashboard and click Add property. Enter the address and confirm the tenancy details — start date, tenant names, monthly rent, and deposit amount. This takes about two minutes.
- Add your compliance documents. On the property page, upload your current gas safety certificate, EICR, EPC, and confirm when the How to Rent guide was given to the tenant. Holdfast calculates the renewal dates and flags anything that's expired or overdue.
- Run the compliance checker. The checker scans your property and tenancy records against the standard prerequisites for serving a Section 8 notice. It tells you what's in order and what needs fixing before you can proceed.
- Start a Section 8 notice (if needed). From the property page, click New notice. The wizard asks you structured questions about your situation — rent arrears, intended use of the property, tenancy length — and identifies which grounds may apply. It then checks the prerequisites for each ground and calculates the correct notice period and expiry date.
- Generate and download Form 3A. Once the wizard is complete and the prerequisites pass, Holdfast populates the prescribed Form 3A with your details and produces a PDF marked DRAFT. Before serving, review it carefully — and if in any doubt, have a solicitor check it. Remove the draft watermark only once you're satisfied it's correct.
- Record service and build your evidence bundle. After serving the notice, log the method and date of service in Holdfast. The evidence bundle section then assembles your compliance documents, the notice copy, and your service record into a single file you can hand to a solicitor or submit to the court.
Getting the most from Holdfast
- Keep documents current. The compliance tracker is only as useful as the documents you put in it. Upload each new certificate as soon as you receive it — don't wait until a notice is needed.
- Use the checker before problems arise. Run the compliance checker at the start of each tenancy and after any certificate renewal. Catching a lapsed prerequisite early is much less painful than discovering it when you need to serve a notice.
- Record everything in one place. Even if you never need a possession notice, having all your certificates, tenancy records, and correspondence in a single organised place saves time at renewal, inspection, and dispute resolution.
- Read the notice before serving. The generated Form 3A is a legal document. Read it in full before you print or email it. Check that the ground, dates, and property details are correct — errors are your responsibility.
- Instruct a solicitor for contested cases. Holdfast reduces procedural risk for clear-cut cases. If the tenant disputes the ground, if there are counterclaims, or if the situation is complex, get legal advice. The tool will tell you when a situation falls outside what it's designed to handle.