NRLA in the media spotlight - the year in review

With the Government’s rental reforms finally making their long-awaited appearance, 2023 proved to be the NRLA’s biggest, most action-packed year so far on the media relations front.

During this period, we used every communications tool at our disposal to convey our members’ perspective on the proposed measures, which will result in the most radical overhaul the private rented sector (PRS) has witnessed in decades.

Foremost in our minds was the feedback we have received from many of our members on how tough it’s proved for them to stay in the current market. This follows the Government’s intention – reiterated throughout the year – that it intends to put its proposals into effect within this parliament.

In parallel with the efforts of our campaigns and policy teams to influence policymakers, the NRLA’s Communications Team delivered record levels of press coverage on behalf of our members.

In total the Team’s work has, so far, produced over 5,000 pieces of national, trade and local coverage in 2023.

The NRLA was featured widely across national and local broadcast media too, with our work resulting in 877 items of broadcast coverage over the course of the year.

Our key spokespeople played a significant role in helping increase our broadcast profile – in all they have participated in 214 interviews in the year to date.

Our Chief Executive Ben Beadle was our standout media star of the year following his many appearances on key national broadcast programmes including BBC Breakfast, BBC Newsnight, ITV News, Sky News and BBC Radio 2’s ‘Jeremy Vine Show’.

The NRLA’s Director of Policy & Campaigns Chris Norris also conveyed our key messages to our target stakeholder groups with aplomb on BBC Radio Five Live, LBC and The Telegraph, Times Radio, and on many other broadcast outlets.

It’s important to note that a significant number of NRLA members set aside the time to speak about their experience of working as a landlord across the private rented sector. Many of our members were able to provide a grass roots perspective on the challenges that face landlords currently across the market to Bloomberg, BBC Politics East, The I, and The Telegraph.

Throughout the year our media relations work followed the NRLA’s tried and tested campaigning approach, focusing as it did on the supply and demand crisis, tax, rental reform and other key campaign topics. With this in mind, we ensured that all our media engagement dovetailed with our wider call for the growth of a private rented sector which is fair, inclusive and which works in the interests of both landlords and tenants.

If you’d like to learn more about the work we undertook throughout 2023, please feel free to contact the NRLA Communications Team at [email protected]. 

Lastly, on behalf of the NRLA Communications Team, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!