Landlord Accreditation - Different Bodies

[Needmoresleep]

It looks as if I will need to join a landlord body as part of having to licence a property as a small HMO. (Not compulsory but fees are much higher if I don't)

The options seem to be:

London Landlord Accreditation Scheme
National Landlords Association
Southern Landlords Association
Residential Landlords Association
The Guild of Residential Landlords
Association of Residential Letting Agents
National Approved Lettings Scheme
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
UK Association of Letting Agents
UK Landlord Accreditation Partnership

Can anyone recommend one. If I am a member I might as well join one which provides vfm in terms of advice and support.

1st thing to check is which of those you are 'qualified' to join i.e. what hoops do you have to jump through and can you maintain those requirements for membership. Once you know that compare how much they charge (including the cost of any cpd) and what they do for their money. Tbh can't see any poster knowing enough about each one for you to compare, you should do your own research about such an important matter.

I have been a (good) landlord for a long time and am not convinced belonging to something will make me a better one. Early research suggests some schemes are a way of pushing goods and services at people. And my experience of going to some talk at a landlord show given by one of these bodies (I cant remember which) was that some people in the room were money grabbing wide-boys whilst others were extraordinarily naive. (Do I need a contract...)

So I am not sure it is such an important matter, and found the first website I looked at frankly depressing in its list of additional services they would be "happy" to provide. Since I need to tick the box, I would welcome recommendations, for any people might have found helpful.

ARLA is the (toothless) letting agent scheme and not relevant. Are you a chartered surveyor? RICS are not a landlord body.

NLA and RLA are the national ones. I spoke to both, not much difference although does get you cheaper legal info (but NOT proper advice, not for £100 a year)

didn't join either because in the end the people I was paying to do what needed doing, decided to do it. Plenty of free advice out there on gov.uk regarding what you must do, and experience provides the rest.

landlord registration is the latest idea to drive out the slumlords, and doesn't work because slumlords ignore law. Pick whichever is cheapest.

Thanks special. That was my impression. RLA seems to offer "accreditation" as does the London one, but this seems to be a guise to flog a certain number of hours of mandatory Continuing Professional Development. (Their website is very confusing so it is difficult to work out what accreditation involves other than 8 hours of training annually, and how it differs from membership.) So go to a trade show where people can flog stuff at you, or pay for an on-line course. I was very underwhelmed at the "free" legal advice given by one referencing agency recently. I assume theirs is similar. If I need to use lawyers I will use one I trust.

I have ranted already, but the licensing is awful and pointless. Bad landlords just wont do it, and good landlords will simply refuse to let to sharers. Not just membership of the Landlord Assn, floorplans, planning permission, DBS clearance and more on top of standard gas and electric. Time and money that wont be invested into the property.

The only silver lining is that when I get to the end of it, mine will be one of the few houses available to sharers. So I should recoup the cost through my tenants paying more, and others will be driven into the arms of slum landlords. And so called landlord groups will increase revenues by increasing membership and selling the required services. I wonder whose interests they have at heart.

I meant important to you if you need some form of accreditation to achieve your plan of reduced fees for licensing of an hmo. I made no comment about how good a landlord you are?! It is up to you; jump through the hoops taking only what you need from whichever body you join or stay unaccredited and pay more.

Also don't feel you can have done any in depth research as you seem to think all of the bodies you name are open to you. Which is why I said the first thing to do is see what their membership requirements are; this will reduce your rather long list and then you are a bit nearer making a decision.

Im with NLA about £100 a year. I use their free legal helpline a few times a year, just to double check things really. I wouldnt use them if I had a real legal problem Id get a relevant solicitor.

I find their library of information quite good, its all in one place and an easy read. You can get accreditation by doing their free tests on library subjects and by reading their free bi-monthly magazine. (aswell as courses which I havent attended but one on IHT and another on CGT looked interesting (interesting is the wrong word!) and werent expensive).

Ive used them for a few EPCs I needed quickly - they were more expensive than ones I could have sourced - but they went out quickly and the job was done.

Im not spammed by them or their suppliers, so all in all they suit me as a way to be an accredited landlord (as a marketing tool really) with little cost or interference.

Sunny, thanks. Good to know there would be some value added and it is not a straight tax. That the CPD need not be too onerous or expensive. And that the NLA website is easier than the RLA one appeared to be.

I'm not sure that courses on CGT or IHT would be interesting. But I can see that more understanding could be useful. And hey, I need to improve my social life.

Electrician turned up five hours late yesterday to do the condition check. (Did anyone factor in just how hard it is to locate good workmen on London.) Not worth me going home, poor tenant had been on a night shift so needed to sleep, it was cold, so I found myself sitting in Starbucks and consuming unnecessary caleries. But luckily works required are minor. Broadband is down today so no chance to make a start on DBS, planning and the rest. Just jumping through the hoops feels like an examination of my admin skills. Perhaps it could count as CPD. Tenants laughed. Apparently I am a far better landlord than the one next door. They don't see him making the same effort.