Landlord group calls for a new national representative organisation

The NRLA do give advice for a membership fee, but most of their energy now seems to be focussed on making money. I am a member but only for the tenancy forms and advice line – I wouldn’t consider any of their ‘landlord’ courses – and they seem to have deals with all sorts of contractors and organisation, no doubt creaming of a commission. The NRLA certainly can’t represent more than 5% of landlords so the government just gives them lip service.

Yes, unfortunately perhaps the NRLA think the CEO B.B is doing a fantastic job because turnover and profits are up? Is that REALLY all they care about? Looking after their own interest?

They surely must know that if they represented a large proportion of the landlords out there then they would perhaps might have more influence. Therefore, the CEO’s job should be to boost the membership numbers substantially and if he can’t do that, get ride and try to get someone else who can.

Since B.B was at the helm member numbers have hardly increased substantially.

Reply to the comment left by JeggNegg at 27/02/2025 – 14:13
I have heard many people complaining about the NRLA pet project of developing landlord software at our expense and that we didn’t ask for. And that we won’t use for all the reasons you mention. Every landlord wants to keep their records their own way and there are other good solutions out there.

Far, far better to have spent the money on lawyers to comb over the unintended consequences of the RRB and propose amendments that are fit for purpose along with a persuasive rationale as to why the amendments are necessary and are not anti-tenant (e.g. student lets).

Unfortunately a lot of you just don’t realise what a mountain it is to climb. Protesting outside parliament- type of tactics will do absolutely no good at all. The farmers have more public sympathy than landlords ever will but even for them it’s not working.
Public affairs in the landlord world is a tough call. Landlords have always been easy targets and that isn’t going to change. Most of the public are not on our side.

How many of you paying on here are members of ANY landlord body? Probably the 2- 5% or so mentioned above.

The NRLA (National Residential Landlords Association) presents itself as an advocacy group for landlords, but in reality, it operates more like a business designed to profit from membership fees, affiliate commissions, and training courses rather than actively fighting for landlords’ rights. Their passive stance on major legislative threats—such as the Renters’ Reform Bill, rent caps, and increased regulation—demonstrates a lack of real opposition to policies that harm landlords.

A look at their company accounts reveals where their priorities lie: generating revenue from landlord memberships, training programs, and insurance referrals rather than lobbying for meaningful policy changes. If they were truly dedicated to protecting landlords, they would take a much more aggressive stance against punitive government policies instead of simply offering guidance on compliance.

The NRLA’s failure to mount serious legal challenges or actively push back against anti-landlord legislation shows that their primary interest is maintaining their business model rather than protecting landlords. They don’t bite the hand that feeds them—government policymakers and corporate partners—at landlords’ expense.

Reply to the comment left by Anthony Lock at 01/03/2025 – 17:37
No mention of ‘free speech’!

Reply to the comment left by Lordship at 27/02/2025 – 14:44
You might be right in your closing remark.
So how do we inform the NRLA what is important to its members?
Do we know how far they are with every project / cause they promote
Do we know what topics they are investigating in 2025?

Reply to the comment left by John Mac at 27/02/2025 – 09:53
If the NRA stopped putting their prices up and still had their 10 year or five year memberships, perhaps more landlords would be members. They also need to use the funding to actively lobby Government on behalf of landlords…. the information that I get from them I could get from anywhere but they still charge an annual fee of over £100.

Those who constantly criticise NRLA might be interested in the final sentence of the following extract from an article posted on this site this morning about proposed amendments introduced in the House of Lords:

“Allison Thompson, National Lettings Managing Director, of Leaders Romans Group (LRG), praised the amendments by Baroness Bybrook.

She said:“The amendments proposed in the House of Lords mark a significant and positive step forward for the Renters (Rights) Bill. After much industry concern and sustained lobbying — particularly from our partners at the NRLA — this is fantastic news.”

Reply to the comment left by Rob Crawford at 27/02/2025 – 13:56Hi Rob,

Last sunmer NRLA replaced the team of 20 local reps with four full-time “engagement officers”. The engagement officer who now covers Bristol and Bath has responsibility for “the south” which includes London, Essex, Kent, Sussex etc along with the south west so whatever problem you think there was with local representation isn’t likely to get better any time soon unfortunately.

Whilst it’s true that only a tiny minority of landlords are NRLA members, despite that, the organisation actually punches above its weight as far as influencing government is concerned.

The best we can expect is for the changes, WHEN, not IF, they happen, to be as workable as they realistically can be. Can you imagine what such a Bill could look like if there was no sensible input from our side?

The NRLA is not perfect, has made some flawed decisions, and doesn’t currently have sufficient members to claim a mandate for landlords.

However it is the best representation we have and is not going to change its M.O. to become some sort of landlord militia, mainly because that will be an even less effective method of influencing government than the pragmatic approach it currently takes.