HL and Ultimate Campaign
 

How is UC handled in HL? I have a party that is going to start their own settlement. How is everything handled as far as adding buildings, labor, etc. Is it put under one oerson or what?

It depends on the scale.

Buildings, Rooms, Teams, and Organizations (as well as other things, like Contacts) are all "owned" by one character/creature/hero.

A kingdom can be created as its own character/hero. It will own claimed hexes, and can own armies. Settlements go in claimed hexes as part of the Kingdom rules.

Armies can also be created as their own character/hero entries.

What if the separate characters all 'own' buildings in the same settlement? What happens if all the characters contributed for a house that holds all of them? What about joint ownership? How do you handle settlements that are just setting out? There is no guidance anywhere as to how this should work,

There is nothing in Ultimate Campaign that allows for shared ownership at the buildings, rooms, teams, and organizations level.

At the kingdom level, generally the kingdom owns the assets and the PCs fill positions in the kingdom.. none own the buildings directly (and, remember, at that level, one "building" is actually a group of similar buildings .. more like zoning than building).

The Downtime rules cover earning capital and construction in a settlement. If it is just starting out, the limits on what you can spend per day will be pretty low.

The Kingdom rules cover a nation creating a new settlement.

The two sets operate on different scales, and don't necessarily mix well.

If each character own buildings, that character gets the benefits (earns the capital or gold) and the building/organization appears under that character.

If you want to do some kind of "shared ownership", make a new character called "the Party" and let it own the buildings, etc.

I'm thinking of a party that has started to build a settlement by pooling their resources and building up gradually. The settlement is part of a kingdom, but the kingdom's role is basically 'good luck and if you die we'll give you a nice funeral'. It seems to me that most adventuring parties would do it that way. HL seems to have spectacularly failed at this concept.

What I'm trying to say is that most settlements are going to be founded by a group working together, rather by rugged individualists working alone. HL has failed to take this in account.

I wouldn't blame HL for something that Pathfinder doesn't really cover that well.

You would have to use double-entry: one for each PC for the buildings they control, and a separate portfolio (or "hero") for the settlement, indicating the benefits granted by the building to that settlement.

(I would think that HL could do with a better tactical console sooner than an improvement in handling multiple ownership of buildings.)

HeroLab has implemented exactly what Ultimate Campaign offers.

New settlements are typically started by more than just a handful of people.. that's what the Kingdom rules are for. The Kingdom provides some starting materials, and expects something in return.. maybe more secure borders, or maybe something more elaborate, like vassalage. (Check out the Vassalage section in the optional Kingdom rules for details.. maybe that will work for what you want.)