Affordable housing software is chosen on one axis before any other: whether it produces what the programme requires, in the form required, on time. Convenience features are secondary because a compliance failure in a subsidised property is not a paperwork problem, it can be a funding problem. This page is that axis and the four things it contains.
Certification and income limits
Eligibility turns on income against published limits, verified at move-in and re-verified on a schedule. The software has to hold the calculation, the evidence behind it and the date it was done, and it has to use the right limits for the right year and place. A general product asked to do this ends up with the calculation in a spreadsheet, which is the arrangement audits find.
Recertification on a calendar you cannot miss
Annual and interim recertifications have deadlines, and missing them has consequences for the subsidy rather than merely for the file. This is a scheduling function with compliance attached, and the requirement is that it is visible far enough ahead to be actioned, not that it is recorded after the fact.
The forms are the product
Programme-specific forms and reporting are what the administrator and the auditor actually read. A product that holds the right data but cannot output the required form leaves the operator retyping, which is where errors enter. Ask to see the real forms generated from real data before anything else is discussed.
The audit trail is not optional
Who changed what, when, and on the basis of which document. Subsidised housing is audited, and an audit is answered from the trail rather than from recollection. This is the feature most obviously absent from general property products and the least visible in a demo, so it is worth asking about directly.
Questions people ask about affordable housing software
Can general property software manage a subsidised property?
For the rent and the maintenance, yes. For certification, recertification and programme reporting, not without a parallel system, which is the arrangement that fails an audit.
What about a mixed property?
Mixed-income properties are the hardest case, because two rule sets apply in one building. That is a strong argument for a product built for the programme rather than one adapted to it.
Does this hub serve affordable housing?
No. Lettza is the record of an ordinary let and has no certification, income-limit or programme reporting functionality.