About the board

The board was established to give a dedicated focus to the continuous improvement of the renter experience, as well as boosting efficiencies for agents operating in lettings and property management. Zoopla is a leading UK property website where consumers look to find homes to rent and buy, with hundreds of thousands of homes for rent at any one time.

The board is chaired by Nicola Thivessen of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward and supported by Richard Donnell, Executive Director at Zoopla. We’re also delighted that the National Residential Landlord Association (NRLA) is a board member to represent the private landlord, half of whom let and manage their own rented homes.

The estate agents represented on the board let and manage over 300,000 homes a year. In addition, the board has experts in dispute resolution, regulation and lettings compliance, as well as new technologies that support a more efficient rental market – from deposits, to software for estate agents.

The board's role

The lettings market is an important part of the housing market. Rented homes have a flexible tenure, and support labour mobility and economic growth. There are as many renters moving home each year as home owners, at around 1 million moves.

The board meets regularly to discuss emerging market trends and to identify how technology, innovation and better insights can improve the rental market experience for the benefit of all – renters, landlords and estate agents.

The board is focused on emerging trends in the rental market and how Government policies might shape the market and its various sub-markets, improving the education of renters and industry stakeholders while also identifying and promoting areas to improve standards and the overall quality of rented housing.

The private rental market

Recent surveys show the vast majority of renters are satisfied with their renting experience and the quality and condition of their property. However, there is a sizable minority for whom the experience of renting has room for improvement.

The rental market has been under growing pressure due to slower levels of new investment in supply since tax changes introduced in 2016. The overall stock of private rented homes hasn’t grown since 2016. The social housing sector hasn’t grown in size for 30 years. The strength of the labour market, increased student numbers and higher mortgage rates have added to the demand for rented homes, which has been very high in the post-pandemic years. This has pushed rents up faster than earnings, creating pressures on renters on low incomes.