A new Landlord Leaders Community was described in September 2023 as an attempt to connect different parts of the private rented sector. Instigated by OSB Group, the initiative aimed to move from discussion towards practical education and tools. LandlordZONE’s launch account outlined its ambitions and the mix of people involved.
The community’s leaders included brokers and finance specialists, alongside a landlord, an estate agent and Propertymark’s Timothy Douglas. That composition brought lending, management and industry representation into the same discussion. The stated intention was to collaborate with associations, government bodies and educational institutions.
Education was a central theme. The source described potential courses and workshops intended to improve understanding within the sector. These were plans reported at launch, rather than evidence that a particular course had been delivered or remained available later.
Jon Hall of OSB Group said its research suggested different attitudes between professional and less experienced landlords. He wanted the community to share a longer-term perspective and reduce gaps in understanding. The distinction was the initiative’s interpretation of its research, not a finding that all owners fitted neatly into two groups.
Proposed research included asking tenants about how they used properties and agents. That element mattered because a management tool designed solely from the owner’s perspective might miss the resident’s experience. The launch account presented tenant research as a future input, without reporting completed findings.
Other topics included access to tax and legal expertise and technology that could help with retrofit decisions. The source did not establish that a general workshop could replace professional advice on an individual case. Its emphasis was on improving the questions landlords could ask and the information available to them.
Landlord and writer Suzanne Smith explained her involvement through an interest in responsible ownership and a fairer sector. Her comments gave a personal reason for participating alongside the organisational aims. This retrospective records the ambitions described in September 2023. It makes no claim about current membership, later achievements or the availability of the proposed tools, and should not be read as an endorsement of a financial product.