I'm Paul. I'm a software engineer who's built systems for Disney, Jaguar Land Rover, Oxford University Press, among others. I'm also about to become the sole operator of Phillip James Lettings—a 400+ property letting agency my family founded in 2008.
Why would a software engineer run a letting agency? I didn't choose it. I inherited it. My mother built Phillip James over the last 20 years, and she's retiring. The business comes to me.
I could hire managers. Bring in more admin staff. Grow the team to match the workload. That's the old model — more properties means more staff, and margins stay flat forever.
I'm doing the opposite. I'm building software that runs the operational side of the business, so the people I do have can focus entirely on landlords and tenants — the work that actually generates revenue.
Not because I'm lazy. Because software in 2025 is capable of handling work that required three people in 2008. And because the lettings software our competitors sell is absolute garbage—built by people who've never done a viewing, never chased a contractor, never had a tenant call at 9 PM about a boiler.
I've worked at Phillip James for years. I know our landlords by name. I do viewings, property inspections, tenant queries. I know exactly what's annoying, what's time-consuming, and what actually matters.
Since January 2025, I've been working on LetAdmin full-time. It's built to prove that a modern agency doesn't need to choose between growing and hiring — there's a new model where your team handles the relationships and the software handles everything else.
That's why a software engineer is also a letting agent. And that's why LetAdmin exists.
The Problem Every Independent Agent Knows
If you manage properties for a living, you already know what I'm talking about. The software available to small letting agencies is genuinely terrible.
Reapit. Alto. Jupix. They're all the same:
- Built for everyone, which means they're optimized for no one
- Bloated with features you'll never use (estate agency nonsense, corporate org charts, branch hierarchies)
- Designed by people who've never managed a single property
- Priced like they're doing you a favour
- Supported by people reading from scripts who don't understand your actual problem
I know this because I've used them. For years. And I got tired of it.
What Makes Us Different
Here's what you need to know about us:
We're owner-operators. Phillip James isn't a portfolio company or a franchise. It's mine. I built it. I manage it. When the software breaks at 11pm because a landlord is panicking about a boiler, I'm the one dealing with it.
We're software engineers. Not "technical founders" who can barely code. Actual engineers who've built production systems that handle real money and real users. I've written software professionally for over a decade. I know what good software looks like—and I know the letting agency industry doesn't have it.
We're here to disrupt the shit software. That's not marketing speak. The software you're currently using is genuinely bad. It's bad because the companies building it don't care about independent agents. They care about enterprise contracts with 50-branch chains.
We're building the opposite.
Who This Is For
LetAdmin is for small independent letting agencies.
Specifically:
- Owner-operators running 50-600 properties
- Single-branch or small multi-branch agencies (not corporate chains)
- Letting specialists (not estate agents dabbling in lettings)
- Agents who've hit the ceiling and can't grow without hiring more admin staff
- People who are tired of awful software and want something purpose-built
If that's you, keep reading.
If you're a 50-branch corporate chain with a procurement department, we're not for you. Go use Reapit. They're very good at serving enterprise clients.
What We're Building
LetAdmin automates everything in your business that doesn't generate revenue:
- Enquiries — Rightmove leads captured and followed up automatically
- Tenant communications — AI drafts responses, you approve and send
- Compliance — Certificate tracking, never miss a renewal
- Inspections — Digital, mobile-first, no paperwork
- Maintenance — Coordination and follow-up handled automatically
- Chasing — Arrears, references, contractors — all automated
Your team stays in control. They make the decisions. LetAdmin handles the execution.
The goal isn't to replace your people. It's to redeploy them to the work that actually grows your business — finding landlords, winning landlords, keeping landlords.
People buy people. LetAdmin makes sure yours are available.
Why It Matters
Look around your office right now. Who's doing what?
Is every member of your team engaged in something that actually grows your agency — winning landlords, keeping landlords, delivering a personal service?
Or are they chasing certificates, typing data, resending emails, processing applications, and fixing admin mistakes?
If your people aren't focused on revenue-producing work, your business model is already broken.
The old model: More properties → more staff → flat margins forever.
The new model: More properties → same staff → margins that compound as you scale.
LetAdmin makes the new model possible. £325/month for founder pricing. That's the cost of redeploying your entire team to the work that matters.
What Happens Next
We're building LetAdmin in public. You'll see exactly what we're working on and why.
If you want to follow along:
- Join the priority list at letadmin.com/priority-list — founder pricing (£325/month) is limited to the first 25 customers
- Read our updates on this blog
- Email me directly if you have questions: paul@letadmin.com
We launch August 2026.
The Bottom Line
I'm a software engineer and letting agent who got tired of bad software and broken business models.
I'm building what I wish existed: automation that handles everything that doesn't generate revenue, so your team can focus entirely on landlords and tenants.
If you're an owner-operator who knows your people should be doing more valuable work than chasing certificates and typing data, this is for you.
If you're a corporate chain with enterprise requirements, this isn't for you.
That's deliberate. I'm building for one type of customer and serving them brilliantly — not trying to serve everyone badly.
Welcome to LetAdmin.
Paul runs Phillip James Lettings (400+ properties, Sussex) and builds software. LetAdmin launches August 2026. Join the priority list at letadmin.com/priority-list.