More power for landlords? Two largest trade bodies to...

The two largest landlord trade groups are to merge.

The National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association will unite to form the National Residential Landlords Association with a membership of more than 80,000 landlords making it by far the largest organisation in the sector.

Its members will own and manage half a million properties, about 10 per cent of the private rented sector.

The merger has been endorsed by both boards and will be put to a vote of their respective members in September. The new organisation is planned to launch officially on January 1.

The two chairs - Alan Ward of the RLA and Adrian Jeakings of the NLA - say in a joint statement: “After more than 20 years of friendly competition the time is right to create a single organisation to represent and campaign for landlords.

“With so much of our work done in parallel there are major benefits to be gained for our landlord members.

“We will be stronger together when presenting a unified voice to government both nationally and locally about the importance of supporting the majority of landlords who do a good job providing the homes to rent the country needs.”

The Residential Landlords Association was established in 1998 and now represents 39,000 landlords providing advice, training and support as well as campaigning on behalf of landlords.

The origins of the National Landlords Association date back to 1973, and it now represents 41,500 members providing advice, training and support as well as campaigning on behalf of landlords.