Smarter Tenancy Creation — Say Goodbye to the Scroll-of-Doom

Release v0.1.155 · Usability

Creating a tenancy should feel like a guided conversation, not like filling out a tax return. In v0.1.155 we've replaced the Add Tenancy modal with a proper three-step wizard — and the difference is immediately noticeable.

---

The problem with the old form

The original AddTenancyModal was a single panel that crammed every field — property, dates, rent, deposit scheme, and tenant selection — into one scrollable block. On a laptop it looked like a database admin screen. On a phone it occupied the entire display with no clear sense of progress.

The tenant linking section was the biggest pain point: a checkbox list of up to 36 rows, buried at the bottom, with no way to search. For agencies managing hundreds of tenants, finding the right person meant scrolling through the full list manually.

---

What we built

We converted the modal into a slide-over panel — consistent with the notification slide-over already in the dashboard — and split the fields across three logical steps:

Step 1: Property & Dates Pick the property and set start/end dates. That's it. No distraction from deposit figures you haven't thought about yet.

Step 2: Deposit Scheme & Amounts Choose the protection scheme and enter the deposit and monthly rent. Keeping this separate means agents can double-check scheme details without the rest of the form competing for attention.

Step 3: Tenant Linking This is the biggest improvement. The old checkbox list is gone. In its place is a searchable combobox: type a name or email, pick from filtered results, and the tenant appears as a removable pill. Adding three joint tenants takes seconds rather than a scroll hunt.

---

Consistency matters

Both the slide-over layout and the combobox pill-picker already existed in the codebase — the notification slide-over and the negotiation NewThreadModal respectively. Using the same patterns means the interface feels familiar from day one, and there is less surface area to maintain going forward.

---

Who benefits

• Letting agents managing large tenant databases will notice the search immediately.
• Landlords self-managing a small portfolio get a cleaner flow that explains what each step is for.
• Mobile users finally get a layout that actually fits their screen.

---

The wizard is live now. Head to Dashboard → Tenancies → Add Tenancy to try it.