Compare · CHICS vs Arthur
CHICS vs Arthur Online
Arthur Online is a strong product — for private landlords and letting agents. Social housing has a different rulebook: regulated tenancies, rent accounts that have to balance to the penny, the Decent Homes Standard, complaint handling under the Housing Ombudsman. CHICS is built for that world.
At a glance
- CHICS is built specifically for UK social housing — co-ops, TMOs, EMBs and housing associations.
- Rent accounting, service charges, repairs, voids, allocations and compliance are core, not bolted on.
- We understand the regulators (RSH, Housing Ombudsman, Welsh Government, Scottish Housing Regulator) that affect the sector.
Feature comparison
CHICS vs Arthur, side by side
Based on publicly available information about Arthur Online at the time of writing. We review this page periodically — if you spot something that's changed, please let us know.
| Feature | CHICS | Arthur |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for UK social housing | Yes | Private rented sector |
| Suited to housing co-ops, TMOs and EMBs | Yes | Not included as standard |
| Regulated-tenancy rent accounting | Yes | Limited |
| Service charge accounting | Yes | Not included as standard |
| Allocations & choice-based lettings | Yes | Not included as standard |
| Repairs & contractor scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Void management workflow | Yes | Basic |
| Complaint handling aligned to Housing Ombudsman | Yes | Not included as standard |
| RSH / regulator return support | Yes | Not included as standard |
| UK-based phone support | Yes | Yes |
Why teams switch to CHICS
Built for UK social housing, not retrofitted
- Regulated rent accounts done right
- Housing benefit, Universal Credit direct payments, partial weeks, four-weekly billing — the awkward edges of social housing rent are baked into our accounting from the start.
- Service charges that audit cleanly
- Variable and fixed service charges, year-end reconciliations, Section 20 consultation tracking — without spreadsheets bolted onto your housing system.
- Allocations & lettings
- Choice-based lettings, nominations, banding and the lettings funnel itself live inside CHICS — you don't need to glue together a separate CRM.
- Built for the regulators
- From RSH performance returns to Housing Ombudsman complaint codes, the reporting your regulator asks for is what CHICS is designed to produce.
- Tenant voice
- Co-ops and TMOs have boards and members. CHICS has the tooling to manage memberships, AGMs and tenant participation alongside the housing data.
- We've seen this migration before
- Most teams that come to us from generic property-management tools have hit the same wall: the moment you start handling housing benefit or service charges, the gaps appear quickly. We'll help you plan around them.
Frequently asked questions
- We're a small co-op currently using Arthur (or a spreadsheet). Is CHICS overkill?
No — we have customers as small as a 30-home co-op. The pricing scales down and we'll only switch on the modules you actually need. The tradeoff is that you get a system that won't hit a wall as your stock grows or as regulation tightens.
- Does CHICS handle housing benefit and Universal Credit direct payments?
Yes. Both housing benefit schedules and UC managed payments are first-class concepts in our rent accounting. Reconciling a HB schedule against tenant rent accounts is a couple of clicks.
- Can we import data from Arthur Online?
Yes. Arthur exports tenancy and contact data in standard formats; our migration team will map it into CHICS and review it with you before go-live.
- Do you offer a contractor portal?
Yes. Contractors get a portal for accepting jobs, updating status and submitting invoices, with all activity tied back to the unit and the tenancy.
- Is this comparison kept up to date?
We review this page periodically based on publicly available information about Arthur Online. If you spot something inaccurate, please email us at support@chics.co.uk and we'll correct it.
Ready to see CHICS in action?
Book a 30-minute walkthrough with our team. We'll show you exactly how CHICS would work for your portfolio — no slide deck, no jargon.