Five years of your NRLA

Next week will mark five years since the National Residential Landlords Association came into being. Here our chief executive Ben Beadle shares his thoughts on what we have achieved since then – and what happens next.

Wednesday 2nd April will see the NRLA mark its fifth anniversary – and how time flies.  

It has been a rollercoaster ride, not least as the association was founded through the merger of the NLA and RLA at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the UK housing market closed down and all colleagues working from home.  

However, necessity is the mother of invention, and we rose to meet these challenges, leading from the front to launch the new association, hitting the ground running in working with the Government during these early days to support members to sustain tenancies, while adapting the business to allow for remote working.  

Growth and development  

Since then, we have grown the organisation by more than a third, with membership increasing from around 80,000 members at the time of the merger to well over 110,000 now.   

We have also enhanced the services on offer to you, our members.  

We have expanded our landlord support team, with more than 30 expert colleagues now on hand to answer your questions on all aspects of lettings, taking more than 150,000 calls a year.  

Our award-winning Training Academy – which now offers more than 65 courses – has honed its offer, with a range of options now available, from remote eLearning and eClassroom courses to traditional face-to-face teaching and bespoke, tailor-made programmes.  

Politically, it has been a turbulent time. Four prime ministers in five years and a change of Government last year threw well-advanced rental reform plans out of the window, undoing years of hard work.   

Undeterred, we continue to campaign robustly to get your voices heard in the corridors of power in Westminster and Cardiff Bay. We give evidence on your behalf at numerous parliamentary select committees and high-level government roundtables on everything from rental reform to welfare, calling for reasonable change that is fair for both landlords and tenants.  

Fighting to change the narrative around private rented sector (PRS) landlords and pushing PRS issues to the top of the political and news agenda, we have racked up more than 17,000 mentions across national, trade and regional media since 2020, including appearances on BBC News, BBC Breakfast, Newsnight, ITV News, Channel 4 News and many more.  

And expanding our own news offer to you, we have introduced our own Listen Up Landlords podcast, which recently recorded its 50th episode – and a live recording planned to mark our anniversary month.  

We are also taking the NRLA into your communities with our new programme of ‘On Tour’ events, and our annual conference attracting political heavyweights including Michael Gove and Andy Burnham.  

Innovation is key to us 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. We have also established partnerships with household names including B&Q, Currys Business and Tapi, to offer exclusive – and significant – member discounts saving you money.  

What happens next?  

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 we are not ones to rest on our laurels, and we know the hard work doesn’t end here.   

The country is in the midst of a rental supply crisis and, with the shadow of extensive legislation change on the horizon in the form of the Renters’ Rights Bill and the proposed Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard, we will continue to fight to get your voices heard and for fair, workable changes to ensure the new rules are fit for purpose.  

We will also be by your side every step of the way, ensuring you have the 360 support you need from training courses and advice to a suite of documents to ensure you remain compliant.  

As we look ahead to the next five years, we know there will be challenges, but, as a dynamic and ever-growing organisation, I am confident we can navigate these unchartered waters and advocate for positive change together.