Legal fight between landlord groups ends

A legal fight lasting nearly a year and which was effectively the subject of a media blackout has been revealed by the National Landlords Association.

The case was finally settled in the High Court, which threw out legal challenges to a merger of the NLA with another landlord group, the National Federation of Residential Landlords.

The merger was announced last July but was then challenged by 11 members of the NFRL, who started legal proceedings against the NLA and the majority NFRL directors who were in favour of the merger.

Since then, the NLA says it has been compelled to adhere to strict High Court undertakings preventing it from representing and assisting landlords who were members of the former NFRL.

But last Thursday, Judge Pelling dismissed the legal challenges to the merger and ordered those who brought the action to pay the NLA’s costs.

David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA, commenting on the judgment, said: “It is a relief that this episode is now over. The NLA remains wholeheartedly committed to the concept of a unified voice for landlords and we never believed that costly litigation would be in the best interests of members or of the private rented sector.

“It is now time to focus all of our energies on the serious matters facing all landlords, not least Government proposals to introduce a national register of landlords.”