Next week will mark five years since the National Residential Landlords Association came into being, in April 2020. Our Chief Executive Ben Beadle looks back on what we have achieved since then – and what’s next for the organisation
April 2 will see the NRLA mark its fifth anniversary
Set up during the eye of the Covid-19 storm, with the housing market closed down and all colleagues (who had never met each other), working from home, it was something of a baptism of fire but – five years on – I am extremely proud of what we have achieved.
Since the organisation was created through the merger of the National Landlords Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), we have grown membership by more than a third, from 80,000 members at the time of the merger to well over 110,000 now.
We have also enhanced the services on offer to our members, building the organisation from the ground up, developing and honing the membership package in response to your needs.
Five years in figures
In the last five years we have seen:
- 38% increase in membership
- 34%: increase in the number of staff offering vital support to members
- 37: awards won
- 51: episodes of Listen Up Landlords recorded
- 548: interviews with TV, radio and print media
- 17,310: media mentions
- 42,643: landlords trained
- 522,014: calls taken by the member support team
- 2 million: documents downloaded
We have also invested in our colleagues to increase the number of expert advisers on the landlord support team, grown our award-winning training academy – which now offers more than 65 courses for landlords and agents – and built up our network of partners offering exclusive discounts and deals to members.
Politically, it has been a turbulent time with four prime ministers in just five years, and a change of Government last year throwing well-advanced rental reform plans out of the window, undoing years of hard work.
Undeterred, we are continuing to campaign robustly to get your voices heard in the corridors of power in Westminster and Cardiff Bay and have been invited to give evidence on your behalf at numerous Government Select Committees and high-level government roundtables on everything from rental reform to welfare, calling for reasonable change that is fair to both landlords and tenants.
Innovation is at the heart of what we do at the NRLA and, with one eye firmly on the horizon, we are investing in tech solutions to make your life easier, welcoming property safety certification firm Safe2 into the NRLA fold and continuing to advance our own property management system Portfolio – with exciting new developments in the pipeline.
What does the future hold?
When I took on the role of Chief Executive my vision was to create a truly member-first organisation, and our satisfaction levels across the board prove we are achieving this – but there is always more to be done.
With extensive legislation change on the horizon in the form of the Renters’ Rights Bill and changes to minimum energy efficiency standards we will continue to advocate for our members – and the whole of the landlord community for change that is both workable and fair.
We will also ensure you have everything you need when it comes to the new rules, from training courses and advice to a comprehensive suite of documents to make sure you are compliant.
As we look ahead to the next five years, yes, there are significant challenges ahead, but I am confident we can take them head on to build a robust, high-quality private rented sector of which we can all be proud.
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About the author
Ben Beadle is chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), the UK’s largest trade body for landlords.
A landlord himself since the age of 20, Ben started out as property manager before working his way up through the ranks at the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
He was then Operations Director at property management business Touchstone before overseeing the merger of the National Residential Landlords Association (NLA) and Residential Landlords Association (RLA) to create the new trade body earlier this year.
His key aims as head of the organisation are to strengthen the voice of landlords in Westminster and Cardiff, to improve the reputation of landlords in the media and to support members through information, training and accreditation.
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The views expressed in this content are solely those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views of TDS, its officers, or employees. To read more on TDS views, visit our Policies & Procedures webpage
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