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NLA Annual Report 2007

Chairman's report

I am pleased to be able to report that once again the NLA has had an excellent year. I will deal in turn with each of our major areas of activity.

Public Affairs

The major event of the past twelve months has been the introduction of tenancy deposit protection. The NLA and our insurance partners Hamilton Fraser achieved a great success in October 2006 in winning a contract to run one of just three government-authorised schemes, leading to the creation of Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited (TDSL). The NLA then embarked on a campaign to promote the new scheme to all interested parties in the run up to launch on 6 April 2007. This entailed use of the press, radio and television, culminating in four television appearances by NLA spokesmen on launch day itself. It also involved a series of radio interviews reaching a potential audience of over five million people. The Department of Communities & Local Government acknowledged that our media activities had been the widest and most effective of the three schemes.

In addition NLA directors, staff and regional representatives have attended and spoken at meetings all over the country explaining tenancy deposit protection and promoting TDSL.

In April a Parliamentary Reception was held to promote our scheme to Ministers, MPs, peers, civil servants, journalists, pressure-groups, and public bodies. Since the launch we have continued to promote the scheme, explain how it is progressing and deal with a number of misconceptions that have emerged.

Throughout the year the NLA has continued to monitor the implementation of the Housing Act 2004. Particular attention has been paid to those local authorities who are deemed to be levying excessive HMO license fees or imposing amenity standards that many landlords would find difficult to carry out. The NLA has also continued to urge modifications in these standards, particularly over the matter of wash-basins. We take particular pride in the influence we were able to have in the government's decision to amend the regulations arising from the Act, which now emphasises to local authorities the need for flexibility on the part of local authorities when considering what is reasonable.

The Welfare Reform Act is now law and the introduction of Local Housing Allowance, under which benefit will be paid straight to the tenant and not to the landlord, will be introduced across the country. As part of a wide-ranging coalition of organisations the NLA sought amendments the Act to add flexibility to the legislation enabling tenants to continue opting for rental payments to be made direct to landlords. Regrettably, there has been scant political support from any party for this view, but the NLA continues to make representations to the government.

The NLA Board has created a Policy Committee to examine issues that are believed to be of concern of members and to evaluate issues that may arise in the future and affect the sector. To bring these matters together an NLA Agenda has been developed which encapsulates those issues where it is felt action by the Government could be of direct benefit to our members and to the private-rented sector in general. It is intended that this list will become a living document subject to revision as part of a rolling process whereby the NLA keeps its policy priorities under constant review. The Agenda was launched by the Chairman at a General Meeting in June. It was used a basis for discussion in June with officials of Communities & Local Government.

The NLA has attended meetings to finalise the format of the energy performance certificates and continues to work with the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes Private-Rented Sector Sub-Group. NLA Director Anthony Lock spoke at one of the meetings of the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes. Talks were held with National Energy Action, EAGA, UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy and the Conservative Party Quality of Life Agenda. We have been involved with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change, and the NLA Chairman has been invited to speak at one of their meetings. The need for more government publicity on energy performance certificates has been raised with Communities & Local Government.

The NLA has carried out the following:

• Submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Communities & Local Government Select Committee for its enquiry out into the affordability and supply of housing;
• Attended conferences and meetings organised by the British Property Federation, ANUK, HMO Network, Crisis (the NLA was first landlord organisation ever to attend such a meeting), London Housing Federation, and the All-Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group;
• The NLA Chairman spoke at the annual Choice-Based Lettings Conference;
• The NLA had a stand at the Plaid Cymru Annual Conference;
• NLA Scotland attended the annual conference of the Scottish National Party;
• For the fourth year running the NLA had a stand at the Labour Party Conference;
• A very successful fringe meeting was held at the Conservative Party Conference. The speakers were John Bird of 'The Big Issue', Ian Fletcher of the British Property Federation, NLA Chairman David Salusbury, and Michael Gove MP, opposition housing spokesman.

The NLA contacted all the newly-elected and re-elected Members of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly congratulating them on election and introducing the NLA. We are now in contact with the Housing Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

As in previous years the NLA has taken every opportunity to publicise its activities and promote the interests of the private rented sector. In this we have been assisted by a specialist consultancy. We have continued with our programme of meetings with journalists and with providing the media with comment on issues affecting landlords. The NLA continue to participate in radio-programmes and are increasingly appearing on television. A proportion of the NLA's media work this year has been focussed on tenancy deposit protection which has contributed to a general raising of the association's profile.

Other landlord associations have developed or deepened their relationship with the NLA. Fife Landlords have now merged with us, leading to the establishment of NLA Scotland. Inner West Landlords and Greater Tyne Landlords have also merged with the NLA, leading to the creation of NLA North-East. During the year Leicester Landlords and Wear Valley Landlords have affiliated to the NLA.

The NLA has continued to play a full part in the Union Internationale de la Propriété Immobilière (UIPI) and is at the forefront of efforts to make that organisation a more effective body in its dealings with the European Union.

The NLA Chairman, as UK Vice-President of the UIPI, in June attended the UIPI Congress in Berne, Switzerland, accompanied by Simon Gordon (Head of Public Affairs) and Richard Gard (Public Affairs Officer).

The NLA has been closely involved in the drafting of a national protocol for local authorities and fire authorities covering the enforcement of fire standards in multipleoccupancy properties. At present enforcement is governed by two conflicting pieces of legislation (HHSRS and the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order).

The purpose of the protocol is to clarify responsibilities for the benefit of local authorities, fire authorities and landlords.

The NLA network of Regional Representatives has continued to develop. There are now twenty-four representatives, between them covering nearly all of the country. There are now three in Scotland, and the first representative has been appointed in Northern Ireland.

An encouraging number of local authorities have joined the NLA as associate members, with around sixty now having done so. In addition the NLA has contributed to a number of local authority consultations on housing strategy, thus contributing to a wider understanding of the private rented sector in those areas. Where a local authority is pursuing policies that are against the interests of landlords the NLA has intervened to represent them.

Our flagship magazine UK Landlord continues to go from strength to strength. Feedback - mainly positive - from both members and outside bodies increases regularly. The range of articles covering practical advice, what the NLA is doing and the issues the sector might face in the future appears to be a popular combination. The move to have a theme per edition is also working successfully and has been well received.

Finance & Membership

NLA membership has continued to grow. Membership figures now stands at more than 14,000 countrywide.

Around 4,300 new members joined in the last year, including those from mergers with the other associations: Association of Midlands Landlords, Inner West [Newcastle], Greater Tyne, and Fife.

The NLA has also increased its staff in line with the commitments of an expanding organisation. Regional Representatives have increased by seven, the marketing department has increased by three and the Telephone Advice line is now two advisors stronger with three on duty from 9-5 Monday to Friday.

This year a staff appraisal process has been devised and implemented. To supplement this a staff handbook has been produced which covers personnel policy.

Systems

The rapid growth of the NLA this year in both members and staff has placed increasingly heavy demands on the IT infrastructure. The telephone system was replaced when we moved to our new offices in April last year and was specified with spare capacity to cope with a full complement of staff. The system has therefore not required any further expenditure during the year.

The central file server was replaced in March 2007 because it had run out of space and reached the end of its expected life. Network capacity was also extended at the same time to provide for current staff numbers and future expansion.

The increase in member numbers pushed our membership database software to its limits. With the predicted increase in member numbers in 2007 it was decided to replace the software with a new product that would be able to handle much larger numbers, at the same time reducing staff workload by automating some of the previously manual processes. Data quality and speed of processing has also been improved by the use of integrated postcode look-up software and direct links for credit card checking and processing. Following an intense period of installation, training and data conversion during December and January use of the new system started in February 2007.

Marketing & Business Development

The year began by launching a number of new initiatives.

The acronym-based NLA logo was updated to include the words 'National Landlords Association' and the introduction of the headings 'Information', 'Advice', 'Support' and 'Services' to better explain our products and services to members and prospects and create a better understanding of what we do. We believe the image of the NLA has improved substantially. This is reflected in the quality and professionalism of all outbound communications, particularly the publication UK Landlord, membership recruitment literature and the introduction of a more substantial membership prospect pack and new member welcome pack.

The need to recruit and retain members continues to be a priority and we have focused on a number of areas.

Rewarding Longer-term Membership
New members now have the opportunity to join, and existing members to renew, on longer term membership periods through the introduction of three-, five-, and ten-year options, together with a life membership option, to encourage a level of upfront commitment and reduce administration costs. By offering a discounted rate for a longer-term subscription we can reward participating members through subscription savings. Since we introduced the scheme, approximately 15% of the total of individual members has taken advantage of longer-term subscriptions.

Member Benefits
Whilst, the NLA strives hard to provide as wide a range of benefits for members as it can, it is not always possible to negotiate the best deal or price for commercial benefits. Many landlords prefer dealing with local suppliers or are able to negotiate a similar deal for themselves. With a view to identifying the optimum range of services, we have recently been working on a recognised supplier scheme that will allow suppliers in marketplaces such as trade suppliers, eviction advice services, solicitors and tax specialists to enter into an arrangement to provide services to the NLA.

Free 3-month Trial Offer
The introduction of a free trial-membership offer, using our strong working relationships with local authorities, Special Corporate Members, Recognised Suppliers, agents and other intermediaries, has, we hope, opened up new memberrecruitment opportunities.

UK Landlord
Our magazine "UK Landlord" has continued to be the industry's premier publication for landlord, and is increasingly well received by landlords, agents and local authority members alike. Following a substantial redesign earlier this year, it is anticipated that the magazine will become self-funding by the end of 2007.

Landlord Development
As part of the NLA strategy for raising standards in the private rented sector, we have cooperated with a number of agencies to produce an NLA Landlord Development Manual and invested in a new online e–learning and accreditation landlord development package. At the same time we have developed the increasingly popular series of one-day attendance course for experienced and novice landlords.

These initiatives have done much to increase the brand exposure of the NLA.

Concluding Remark

I hope members will agree that the NLA has gone from strength to strength during the year ended 31 July 2007.

We now have a hard-working team in our offices on the Albert Embankment of almost 20 professionals, all making a vital contribution to our success. We can be justifiably proud of our progress to date, which I am confident will continue as long as we can count on the excellent support of our ever-increasing, and diverse, membership.

David Salusbury, NLA Chairman