Declaring an interest, because it matters on this page. We run a paid landlord platform and some landlords will treat us and the NRLA as alternatives. We are not neutral. So this page sticks to what the NRLA publishes on its own site, says plainly where it is better value than we are, and marks anything we could not verify.
The short version
NRLA membership is £125 a year for an individual landlord. For that you get unlimited tenancy agreements and 130+ documents, an advice line staffed six days a week by more than 30 trained advisers, 20% off training, tax investigation insurance and free access to NRLA Portfolio. Judged as advice and documents, that is good value and hard to beat. Judged as software, it is the wrong comparison — NRLA Portfolio is not on HMRC's recognised list, so it will not file your Making Tax Digital submissions.
[JAMES: check this] The question I get asked is whether it is worth it, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on what you are short of. If what you are short of is somebody to ring when a tenant does something you have not seen before, £125 is cheap. If what you are short of is a system, it is the wrong purchase and you will end up buying both.
What you actually get for £125
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Documents | Unlimited tenancy agreements, checklists, toolkits and forms — the NRLA describes it as 130+ documents and guides |
| Advice line | Phone and online, six days a week, from a team the NRLA says numbers over 30 trained advisers, many of them landlords themselves |
| NRLA Portfolio | Free to members. Tenancy management, deposit registration, key-date reminders, income tracking |
| Training | 20% off courses; free events and webinars |
| Insurance | Free tax investigation insurance, which the NRLA values at over £100 |
| Magazine | Property, included |
Two things we could not verify and are therefore not going to state either way: whether the £125 is inclusive or exclusive of VAT, and whether any joining fee applies. Neither is stated on the join or member-benefits pages. Ask before you sign up if it matters to you.
The case for it
Put £125 next to what the individual components cost separately and the arithmetic is genuinely good.
The advice line is the product
A single half-hour with a housing solicitor will cost you more than the annual membership. If you let property in England and have not yet fully absorbed what changed on 1 May 2026, having somebody to ring is worth more than any dashboard.
The documents are not trivial
Since the Renters' Rights Act, a compliant agreement is not something to improvise. Unlimited access to maintained templates is a real safety net — provided you check they have been updated for the current position.
Scale and lobbying
110,000+ members means a body that is consulted on policy. Whether you value that is a personal question, but it is part of what the fee funds.
Where it is better value than us
If you want expert advice on the phone and a library of documents, the NRLA does that and we do not. We would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
The case against, stated fairly
None of this is a criticism of the NRLA. It is a criticism of comparing it to something it is not trying to be.
NRLA Portfolio is not on HMRC's recognised software list. Checked 7 September 2026, when HMRC's find-software tool returned 138 recognised products. If you are looking for something to file your quarterly Making Tax Digital updates, membership will not do it, and you will need a second product alongside. That is not a flaw in the membership — it is simply a different job.
| If what you need is… | Then |
|---|---|
| Advice you can ring up for, and documents | NRLA membership, £125/yr. Hard to beat at the price |
| To file MTD quarterly updates yourself | A recognised product — Hammock from £8+VAT/mo, PaTMa from £15 incl. VAT, Landlord Vision from £19.97+VAT, or Landlord Studio from £15/mo. Some have free tiers |
| Portfolio numbers, compliance tracking and documents in one place | A platform. Ours is £10/mo or £99/yr; alternatives are compared here |
| All three | Realistically, membership plus one tool. Budget for both rather than expecting either to do the other's job |
So, is it worth it?
Yes, if
- You are relatively new, or newly nervous after the 2026 changes
- You would use the advice line more than twice a year
- You want maintained tenancy documents without drafting them
- You have a handful of properties and no system yet — Portfolio may be enough
- You want the training discounts
Probably not, if
- Your problem is MTD filing — membership does not solve it
- You already have a solicitor you use and trust
- You need portfolio analytics, LTV, yield and cash flow
- You are managing at a scale where you need multiple users and operations tooling
Is there a cheaper landlord association?
There are regional and smaller national associations, and some letting agents include advice in their fees. We have deliberately not listed prices for bodies whose pages we did not read on the same day, rather than publish figures we cannot stand behind.
Do I need to be in an association at all?
No. There is no legal requirement. Some selective and additional licensing schemes look favourably on accreditation, so it is worth checking your own council's scheme.
Are the NRLA tenancy agreements up to date for the Renters' Rights Act?
You should check the version date on any template before you use it, wherever it comes from — including ours. The 1 May 2026 changes were substantial enough that a pre-2026 agreement is a liability. See what a 2026 agreement must contain.
Can I cancel?
Membership is annual and renewable yearly; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period rather than immediately.
If you want the system rather than the helpline
Portfolio value, compliance status on every property, rent and documents in one place. £10 a month or £99 a year, no contract, cancel anytime.
See what is includedFigures read from nrla.org.uk on 7 September 2026 and quoted as published. VAT treatment and any joining fee were not stated and are not asserted here. The Landlord Alliance is a paid product that some landlords will consider as an alternative to membership, so weigh this page accordingly.
Sources: nrla.org.uk join and member-benefits pages; HMRC find-software tool (Beta), checked 7 September 2026; published pricing pages for Hammock, PaTMa, Landlord Vision and Landlord Studio.
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