The National Landlords Association (NLA) and the NRLA Explained

If you have been looking for the National Landlords Association, here is the short version: it no longer exists on its own. In 2020 the NLA merged with the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) to create one body, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). Same job, bigger organisation, one name instead of two.

So when someone points you towards "the NLA" today, what they almost always mean is the NRLA. This page explains what happened, what a landlords' association actually does for you, and what landlords tend to weigh up before paying for membership.

Article updated: June 2026

What happened to the National Landlords Association?

For more than 20 years there were two big membership bodies competing for the same landlords: the National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association. Both did much the same thing. They lobbied government, ran training, and offered advice and discounts to members.

In August 2019 the two announced they would join forces. Members of both bodies voted in favour at general meetings on 17 September 2019, and the merged organisation, the National Residential Landlords Association, launched on 1 January 2020. It started with more than 80,000 members representing around 500,000 rented properties, which made it the largest landlord group in the country overnight.

It has kept growing. Membership passed 90,000 in early 2021 and crossed 100,000 by the end of 2022. The chief executive is Ben Beadle. Richard Lambert, who ran the NLA before the merger, is no longer involved. The NLA and RLA names have been retired. There is one body now, it covers England and Wales, and it is the NRLA.

What is a landlords' association?

A landlords' association is a membership organisation that represents and supports private landlords. Most start life as a lobbying group, fighting the sector's corner with government, then grow into a wider support network. The NRLA is the obvious example, but it is not the only one.

The private rented sector is one of the most heavily regulated parts of property. There are more than 100 Acts of Parliament and hundreds of separate regulations that touch landlords, covering everything from how you protect a deposit to how you end a tenancy. The rules also change often. An association's core promise is simple: keep you on the right side of all of it without you having to read every piece of legislation yourself.

What does the NRLA do for landlords?

Strip away the marketing and an association earns its membership fee in four ways:

• Representation. It lobbies government and responds to consultations on the rules that affect lettings, so landlords have one collective voice rather than thousands of individual ones nobody hears.
• Advice. A phone and online advice line staffed by people who know the legislation, for the moments when something goes wrong and you need an answer quickly.
• Training and accreditation. Courses, webinars, and a recognised accreditation scheme you can point to as proof you run your lettings properly.
• Member services. Tenancy agreements, document templates, and discounts on the things landlords buy anyway, such as insurance, deposit protection, and tenant referencing.

In my experience the advice line is the part most landlords actually value. You can read the rules in advance, but the day a tenant stops paying or a notice has to be served exactly right, having someone on the end of a phone who has seen it a hundred times is worth a lot.

Who joins a landlords' association?

Members range from full-time landlords running large portfolios to people letting a single flat. Whether you are still building a portfolio from buy-to-let property for sale or letting a single one, the regulatory burden is much the same. A big chunk are so-called accidental landlords, people who never set out to let property but ended up doing it after inheriting a house, moving for work, or moving in with a partner.

Accidental landlords are often the ones who get caught out, because they only start thinking like a landlord when something breaks. The repair bill lands, the rent stops, or the tenancy has to end and they realise the right paperwork was never in place. That is usually the point people go looking for an association.

Do you have to join a landlords' association?

No. Joining is voluntary. There is no law that says a landlord has to belong to the NRLA, or any other body, to let property in England or Wales.

That could change over time. Government has discussed a mandatory national landlord register, and selective licensing schemes already apply in many local areas. Membership of an association is a different thing from those legal requirements, but the two often get talked about together, so it helps to know the difference. An association is support you choose to pay for. A register or a licence is something the law makes you do.

Are there other landlord associations?

Yes. The NRLA is the largest by a distance, but it is not the only option. The British Landlords Association is a smaller national body, and Scotland has separate representation through the Scottish Association of Landlords, because the NRLA covers England and Wales only. There are also local landlord forums and accreditation schemes run by individual councils.

For most landlords in England and Wales the practical choice comes down to the NRLA or going without. The smaller bodies tend to compete on price rather than on the weight of their lobbying or the depth of their resources.

How to join the NRLA

Membership is paid annually, and the NRLA lists the current tiers and prices on its own site. You can compare the options and sign up on the NRLA membership page. The only real requirement is that you let, or are about to let, at least one property.

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