Year One for the Implementation Unit

14 November 2025 marks the first anniversary of the Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter Implementation Unit.   

The Good Landlord Charter first arose as a mayoral commitment in 2021. This led to the formation of a coordinating group of landlords, tenants, local authorities, and housing sector experts.  

In early 2024, this group opened up the Charter to public consultation. Out of this period came the core of the Good Landlord Charter - our Membership criteria. These criteria set what it means to be a Good Landlord and what tenants can expect from a good home. There are 21 criteria grouped into 7 themes. Later that year, on 14 November 2024, The Dispute Service (TDS) was appointed to independently implement the Good Landlord Charter.  

Since then, a lot has happened to begin the work of improving Greater Manchester’s rental standards. 

Laying the groundwork 

The Implementation Unit hit the ground running, initially meeting with a range of stakeholders, including tenants and landlords, to better understand their aims and ambitions for the Charter. The Governing Board was also formed during the initial period, ensuring landlords, tenants, and sector experts were guiding us through the project. These core activities enabled the creation of a clear plan for the first 6 months.  

Our marketing department launched our website and social media accounts to keep landlords, tenants and the public updated on our work. With the pace the Charter moves, and the milestone changes in national housing legislation, we have to put our news out rapidly. You can follow those social accounts, and join our mailing list, to stay in the know. The website provides all the context, resources and information about what it means to landlords and tenants to provide a better rental experience. But importantly, the website opened the Charter to applications from all residential landlords to join the Charter. 

Building a movement

We were keen to talk to as many landlords as possible. We soon began meeting, exhibiting and speaking at a range of industry events to build momentum.  

Dozens of private landlords register as Supporters of the Good Landlord Charter within the first couple of weeks. We welcomed landlords who rent out one property, to businesses managing portfolios of hundreds. These Supporters joined for a variety of reasons. Social housing providers also quickly committed to the aims of the Charter, as every member of the Greater Manchester Housing Partnership registered their support.  

We asked why our landlords joined the Charter and what they believe it means for their tenants: 

“I want to be a great landlord. I want to provide a great home to live in” 

“Improve [the tenants] experience of renting with us” 

“[Tenants] will have a better place to stay” 

 “They know I am a genuine and responsible landlord” 

“We are committed to being a good landlord…[and] we want to ensure our tenants have access to good quality and affordable housing” 

Official launch

With the initial support from landlords across Greater Manchester, the Good Landlord Charter launched on 26 June 2025 at the national Housing 2025 Conference. By that time, we had over 100 landlords registered, representing 234,000 homes in the city-region.  

“We all have a part to play in the success of the Good Landlord Charter and making Greater Manchester a better place to live for everyone”. - Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Paul Dennett

Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor and Greater Manchester’s Housing Strategy Lead, Paul Dennett, launched the Charter on the day. He reflected on the history of housing in the region, remarking on what it meant to live a good life in Greater Manchester. 

Roles for working with the Charter

As Mayor Dennett said, “we all have a part to play”. So, we made advocating and collaborating with the Charter easy for anyone who wants to improve rental standards. 

Our Champions of the Charter role invited agents to pledge their support for the Charter. Membership with the Charter is exclusive to landlords who hold the landlord-tenant relationship. Champions of the Charter are not held against the criteria of the Charter; instead, they must demonstrate appropriate accreditation to operate as a letting agent. Champions commit to: 

• Support the Good Landlord Charter criteria  

• Promote and support Membership with the Charter to landlords  

• Raise awareness of the Charter with tenants  

Similarly, we called on broader professionals in the housing sector to join as Friends of the Charter. Friends can come from a range of sectors, including landlord services, VCFSE organisations, and the wider housing supply chain. 

Organisations that join through these roles are welcomed into a network of industry leaders looking to improve the rental sector. Champions and Friends can access our resources and refer landlords to receive free support from the Charter.  

Learning about the Charter 

Firstly, an ongoing series of webinars was created so our voice can reach everyone who needs to hear it. These webinars offered the opportunity to learn more about what the Charter does and what you can do to get involved. Launched in July, we have held 11 webinars so far, attended by 160 landlords, VCSFE teams, and Local Authorities.  

To embed participation, we created two Advisory Groups, comprised of landlords and tenants, to create safe spaces to keep our finger on the pulse of real-world renting experiences.  

This two-way communication between the Charter and the people impacted by our work has helped guide us to make sure we provide an equitable and transparent service. If you want to talk to us about the rental experience in Greater Manchester, please get in touch. 

Path to Membership

Landlords across the region had registered their support for the Charter. Now it was time to take the first steps on the path to Membership.

Foundations for a Good Landlord

Our Membership & Quality team got stuck in with the many landlords registered as Supporters. The role of Supporters is to go above and beyond the legal minimum standard. So, the first step of exceeding this standard is collecting evidence that they meet certain requirements.

This work started to highlight one of the best parts of what the Charter offers: clarity. The Membership & Quality team are experts on compliance with landlord legislation. Our Supporters benefited from clear, simple guidance on how to demonstrate legal minimum compliance.

This service is more useful now than ever before as the Renters’ Rights Act marks a major reform in legislation. If you’re a landlord with questions about compliance, register as a Supporter to work with a dedicated advisor.

Register today

Year Two 

As we approach December, we look ahead to the second year of the Good Landlord Charter and to the national landscape of renting under the Renters’ Rights Act. 

We’ve built a foundation of trailblazing landlords demonstrating legal minimum compliance. This act of freely confirming legal compliance for landlords has never been done before. The Renters’ Rights Act seeks to implement a national PRS database. But here in Greater Manchester, we’ve already started the work to demonstrate that good homes can be found in our city-region. 

We are continuing to grow our number of landlords and have a clear strategy to attract as many good landlords as possible over the next year, to increase access to good homes for tenants.  

The Implementation Unit will be supporting landlords to meet the Charter’s Membership criteria and be ready for the changes in national legislation. This will be achieved through tailored casework, networking events, and a training programme. We have even more planned for our landlords, Champions, Friends and tenants in 2026.  

Don’t miss out on what’s going on with the Good Landlord Charter. Be part of the movement for a better life in Greater Manchester.