Discover how this Leicestershire agency uses Alto to stay compliant under the Renters’ Rights Act, and why its managing partner calls it the best CRM he’s ever used.
After 54 years in the game, Graham Hall knows a thing or two about what makes good letting agent software.
He’s learned – sometimes the hard way, he admits – the difference between software that looks good in a demo and software that actually delivers once you’re relying on it day in, day out.
So what’s Graham’s take on Alto?
“Alto is hands down the best CRM for estate agents I’ve ever used.” Graham says. “We wouldn’t be without it, especially since Renters’ Rights.”
Graham is a managing partner at Aston & Co, an independent sales and lettings agency in Leicestershire, where he heads up compliance. But he started his career at 16, when he joined Leicester Permanent Building Society.
He’s worked his way up, becoming a trusted expert in lettings long before ‘buy to let’ was a thing.
A lifetime in lettings
Over the years Graham’s test driven plenty of software solutions and CRMs. What sets Alto apart for him is how well the system works behind the scenes.
Alto brings lettings, property management, compliance, analytics and reporting into one system, with an AI layer built in that handles routine checks like identity and AML verification in the background.
Graham says: “It’s always been a battle to try to find a software package that does everything for lettings because it’s so much more complex than sales, though don’t let my colleagues in sales hear me say that!
“Before we found Alto, we went through a torrid time with various systems. One seemed to be good at first; the sales process was slick and the London office was ‘about to open’. But it turned out to be based on another continent which we didn’t realise until it was too late. That was a nightmare.
“I had my best success with a small firm in London called Estates IT. Whilst their ‘Front end’ system worked very well, the property management function & accounting system couldn’t rival what Alto has given us in terms of the back end.
“Our setup was very piecemeal, with documents and spreadsheets ‘Bolted on’. We weren’t working smart.
“With Alto everything’s visible and you can see exactly where you stand on anything, at any time.”
Ready for Renters’ Rights
For a compliance-led role like Graham’s, having everything visible in one place has made a huge difference, particularly since the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act in May 2026.
The Act has made letting agents directly accountable for getting compliance right, with potentially serious consequences for slip-ups. Local authorities are able to issue fines of up to £7,000 for breaches and up to £40,000 for serious or repeat offences.
It means a reliable audit trail is now essential for every single property. If a local authority or a tenant questions whether the right steps were taken, agents need a clear record they can point to rather than relying on memory or scattered paperwork.
“Alto has been our saviour when it comes to the Renters’ Rights Act,” Graham says.
“Navigating all the changes, especially the legalities, has been one of the biggest challenges of my career but Alto has the right tools to help us manage it.
“The greatest help is being able to see what people are doing and make them accountable for things like renewing gas certificates or issuing the tenant information sheet.
“Alto keeps an automatic audit trail across channels so now when a landlord or tenant asks what’s happened, we can put a finger on exactly where we stand and who’s done what.
“It gives us peace of mind, which is so important now.”
A clean switch
Moving to new software is something lots of agents dread, especially in lettings, where migration involves moving hundreds of gas safety dates, inspection records, certificates and years of compliance history, which all needs to arrive intact.
With more than 1,600 migrations completed since 2019, Alto has a tried and tested migration strategy that gets agencies up and running in just 16 days, on average.
This approach includes the moving over of all historical data. Some CRM providers treat migration as a chance to ‘start clean’ and archive old data, but the truth is that for most agencies that’s a mistake.
Historical data is increasingly valuable with the rise of AI, so Alto ensures everything is transferred over, including archived records and historic data going back years.
Graham says: “I was admittedly worried about what might not come across, like the gas safety dates, the certificates, all the compliance history we’d built up. You could miss a few of those and not even know you’ve got a problem until it’s too late.
“But it’s all worked out really well. We’re so grateful we found Alto.”
For Graham, the last year has made one thing clear: lettings has changed for good.
Tracking everything manually has become a huge challenge, especially across a growing portfolio. And while getting compliance wrong used to mean a slap on the wrist, now it can mean a serious penalty.
No going back
Graham agrees that the letting agencies that thrive from here on in will be the ones with the right system behind them.
He says: “Those who are brave enough to run a lettings agency these days need good backup, and Alto provides it.
“There’s still lots I personally need to explore in Alto, such as all of the built-in AI, which I know can make my job a lot easier. I did feel scared by the prospect of all that but now I’m actually excited about how it can make us even better at what we do.
“Would we run our agency without Alto, now that we’ve seen what it can do? Absolutely no way.”
Wondering if Alto should be your next move? Book your free, no-obligation demo now.
