With a number of different national landlord associations to choose from, how do you work out which one to join – if any? As a completely independent 3rd party we felt we were in a good position to provide our customers with a quick guide to enable them to compare landlord associations and what the costs and benefits are at a glance.

The Landlord Association

The only FREE to join national landlord association, Landlord Expert provides free back-up and support online to residential landlords. They are the only landlord association that is recommended by primelocation.com, FindAProperty.com and PropertyAbroad.com. With a huge member base and a dedicated following of landlords from all over the UK, they are the only Landlord Association to offer free telephone support from exprienced and professional staff. All other associations, charge the landlord money for this service.

The Landlord Association membership benefits include:

• Free access to landlord forums, information centre, buy to let event calendar, supplier directory, landlord forms, documentation, FAQs, tools, kits and more
• They use the information and ongoing feedback gathered from their members to back any campaign to help improve the standards for landlords within the private rented sector
• The more landlords they acquire as members, the more detailed their feedback and services can be
• They can represent the concerns of each and every individual landlord
• They believe in a total service – ongoing developments to their website with upcoming additions planned for the future.

The Landlord Association membership options

Free membership

http://www.landlordexpert.co.uk

Residential Landlords Association

Owned by their members, the Residential Landlords Association represents over 6,000 landlords throughout England & Wales, with a combined portfolio in excess of 150,000 properties. Their main aim is to be an effective lobbying organisation, however they do provide a free landlord supplier directory and the forum can be accessed free, but you have to join to post your own messages.

Residential Landlords Association member benefits include:

Website access – complete, unrestricted access to all areas of the RLA website.

RLA Help Desk – Free and unlimited guidance on all aspects of landlord legalities, the tenancy lifecycle. Accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Tenancy Agreement – Members get free use of the RLA Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, created with the Office of Fair Trading.

Document Centre – Every document you will ever need to manage your properties and tenancies. From tenancy application forms and tenant reference requests, to inventories, tenancy agreements and company lets, through to court forms and legal notices.

www.homes2rent.net – RLA Members can advertise all their properties for free on the RLA’s very own website, the free search website for tenants looking for rented accommodation in the UK.

Tenant Credit Checks – Check potential tenants’ financial worthiness, CCJ’s, credit history, electoral role and credit risk. For a fully detailed report usually costing between £15-20, RLA Members pay just £10 per check.

Tenancy deposits – RLA members get advice on tenancy deposit protection in addition to a subsidy on membership to Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd.

Landlord Software – Create and save tailored AST agreements for all of your tenancies and properties with the RLA AST Creation Software and Launch Pad. Free for RLA Members.

Residential Property Investor – The RPI is a leading magazine for landlords in the UK, containing all the latest industry news and information relevant to today’s landlord.

Landlord Insurance – Preferential rates for RLA members on various insurance products including Buildings, Contents for Landlords and Tenants, Rent Guarantee and Legal Expenses cover.

Buy to Let Mortgages – The RLA online Buy to Let mortgage service offers a wide range of Buy to let mortgages and now offers domestic residential mortgages for RLA members.

Landlord Training – RLA Courses are designed to help all landlords to overcome the problems and pitfalls of property rental and law. RLA members get exclusive discounts.

Member Discounts – The RLA Suppliers Guide features hundreds of businesses from around the UK and RLA Members get preferential rates off many of them. Save up to 25% on services including Accountants, Builders, Plumbers, Electricians, Inventory Clerks, Inspections and more.

News Updates – Receive regular news updates via email and the RLA website. Keeping you up-to-date and ahead of the industry in issues that affect today’s landlords.

Voice in Government – As a member of the Residential Landlords Association you will be represented in the highest levels of Government along with thousands of other landlords in England & Wales.

Residential Landlords Association Membership options

£75 – 95 per year (depending on payment method)
Corporate and associate membership options also available

http://www.rla.org.uk

National Landlords Association

With over 50 Acts of Parliament and more than 70 sets of regulations governing the private-rented sector. This increasingly heavy regulatory burden means it is more important than ever that landlords understand the legal and regulatory environment in which they manage their lettings.

Representing 17,000 members, the National Landlords Association, seeks a fair legal and regulatory environment for landlord and tenant, and actively lobby the government at all levels on behalf of our members. They help ensure that their members are aware of their statutory rights and responsibilities.

Residential Landlords Association member benefits include:
* Access to their telephone advice line, as often as you want
* In-depth analysis of current issues in UK Landlord, the premier magazine for landlords
* Access to their comprehensive Landlord Library website
* A copy of their Landlord Development Manual that benchmarks good practice on the many issues facing landlords
* Free tax investigation insurance
* Discounted rates on membership and protection of deposits with mydeposits
* Discounted rates are available on a wide range of commercial services
* Their team of policy advisers lobbies at local, national and EU level to promote the interests of landlords

Membership options

£70 per year membership fees, plus £18 to join (one off)
Discounts for bulk buyingyears in advance

http://www.landlords.org.uk

Special note: The information shown above was researched from the landlord associations’ respective websites (2nd September 2009) and therefore may be subject to change since publication. Buy to Let Furnishings will endeavour to monitor the information and update the figures as necessary.

As a buy to let furniture specialist, Buy to Let Furnishings are often asked by landlords, lettings agencies and property management companies to recommend other buy to let suppliers, websites and services.

So to save your precious time, we thought we’d gather the 5 best free landlord advice sites and resources that we’ve come across and provide them for you in a handy list…

1. Residential Landlord

Residential Landlord is the one stop source for information and advice for residential landlords. Their aim is to help their visitors become the best informed property investors in the market. FREE to access, content includes news and features; links to sources of information from Government and other agencies, and updates on latest buy to let mortgage offers; auction dates and new property developments.

Their Ask Sharon ‘agony column’ tackles some of the trickier questions, giving down to earth practical advice on a host of common and not-so-common questions. Plus the busy landlord forums buzz with daily exchanges on topics ranging from plumbing to taxation, worn carpets to possession.

http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk

2. Landlord Expert

Landlord Expert is the only FREE to join national landlord association. One of only two national associations set-up to help landlords all over the UK. Landlord Expert is the only landlord association to offer free telephone support from exprienced and professional staff.

All other associations, including the only other national association, charge the landlord money for this service.

http://www.landlordexpert.co.uk

3. Landlord Zone

Landlord Zone is an online community, a portal for landlords involved in letting property – novice and experienced alike. It provides free access to information, resources and suppliers of value to residential and commercial landlords, tenants, letting agents, property managers and other property professionals.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk

4. Property Investment Project

A popular and highly entertaining property investment blog, written by a guy whose original plan was to blog about his first steps into investing in buy to let property and becoming a landlord. Which having since completed that task on the 2nd of March 2007, now continues to indulge himself by writing (and ranting) about the ups and downs of being a landlord and his other property related projects, with the ultimate goal of increasing his portfolio and becoming a property millionaire.

http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk

5. Property Hawk

Property Hawk is a site developed by Landlords for Landlords. The primary aim is to make work life simpler and more flexible for their landlord users through the provision of FREE content and landlord software. Their software gives landlords the ability to log their financial and management data, as well as calculate their tax liabilities. The site incorporates a landlord magazine, news feed, links, online book, calculators, bookshop created specifically for UK Residential Landlords.

http://www.propertyhawk.co.uk

If you have found other free landlord advice websites, forums, resources and services available at zero cost to landlords, please feel free to add them to the comments below (please declare any interest and all comments will be moderated – thanks Buy to Let Furnishings).