As a tenant how do you know your landlord – or agent – is a good one?

There are checks renters can carry out – looking at online reviews, the government’s rogue landlord database, or contacting The Property Ombudsman.

However, a quick, and simple way to prove to potential tenants you are a competent and compliant landlord, is to become an accredited landlord.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has been running an accreditation programme since the organisation came into being in 2020, building on those run by its legacy organisations and going from strength to strength.

So what is accreditation?

Accreditation allows you to demonstrate your knowledge, training, skills and intentions to manage properties and tenancies in line with best practice. All of this can help boost your reputation with tenants, as well as local authorities, with some offering discounts on licensing to accredited landlords.

More and more landlords have joined the NRLA accreditation scheme in recent years, with the association now home to almost5,000 accredited landlords – 4, 900 at the last count – a 20% increase year on year.  There are also a further 9,800 registered and working towards the scheme.

So how does it work?

The scheme is designed for individual landlords of private residential tenancies and is only available to NRLA members. 

Once you are a member of the NRLA you can make an application through our Accreditation Dashboard. This requires landlords to agree to certain Terms and Conditions and our Code of Practice as well as submitting a Fit and Proper assessment.

Once this has been completed, you need to undertake one of our core training courses to pick up your five points and get accredited.

Landlords need to earn five ‘core’ and five ‘standard’ Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points each year to remain an accredited landlord. Core points remain on your record for five years and standard points must be earned each year.

There are all kinds of ways that NRLA landlords can accrue these points, from attending training courses and webinars to listening to our monthly podcast Listen Up Landlords and reading our award-winning quarterly members’ magazine, Property.

The latest figures show that last year alone a massive 69,000CPD points were accrued in the last year by accredited members – demonstrating a real commitment to maintaining the highest of standards.

Once accredited, you can display your certificate of accreditation – and use the logo on your documents and paperwork.

What do landlords say?

During a recent NRLA survey, landlords felt accreditation made them feel more professional and confident in their knowledge. One landlord told the NRLA: ‘Accreditation increases my confidence that I am complying with all the necessary legislation and doing my best as a landlord’. Another said: I believe being accredited provides tenants and potential tenants that I am an honest landlord; it is a statement that I am professional and take my role seriously’.

What next for accreditation?

The NRLA Training Academy, which administers the accreditation scheme is working on additional benefits to accreditation, with an announcement to come soon. It is also working closely with councils to deliver training and accreditation packages to local landlords, with dozens more interested.

To find out more about becoming accredited with the NRLA click here.