A total of 30,000 landlords are now members of the Residential Landlords Association, it has been claimed – just 18 months after membership hit the 20,000 mark.

Set up in 1998, the  association says it is now Britain’s leading landlord body, with members representing  a total property portfolio of more than 340,000 homes.

The RLA also says it answered 40,000 helpline calls in the last year, trained more than 4,000 landlords and provided more than 297,000 documents in lobbying.

RLA chairman Alan Ward said: “This is a massive achievement for the RLA – and something we could only dream of when the association was first established almost 20 years ago.

“The private rented sector is a challenging landscape to negotiate, with tax changes and ever-changing regulation meaning that now, more than ever, landlords need someone they can trust to help them navigate their way through.

“In the last 18 months alone 10,000 landlords have turned to us to do just that, with membership going from strength to strength.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to our members and assure them we will continue to fight on their behalf to make renting safe, legal and secure for everyone.”