Seismic assessment of existing unreinforced masonry buildings represents a current challenge in structural engineering. Many historical masonry buildings in earthquake regions were not designed to withstand seismic loading, thus these structures often do not meet the basic safety requirements recommended by current seismic codes and need to be strengthened considering the results from realistic structural analysis. This paper presents an efficient modelling strategy for representing the nonlinear response of unreinforced masonry components under in-plane cyclic loading which can be used for practical and accurate seismic assessment of masonry buildings. According to the proposed strategy, a generic masonry perforated walls is modelled using an equivalent frame approach, where each masonry component is described utilising multi-spring nonlinear elements connected by rigid links. When modelling piers and spandrels, nonlinear springs are placed at the two ends of the masonry element for describing the flexural behaviour, and in the middle for representing the response in shear. Specific hysteretic rules allowing for degradation of stiffness and strength are then used for modelling the member response under cyclic loading. The accuracy and the significant potential of the proposed modelling approach are shown in several numerical examples, including comparisons against experimental results and the nonlinear dynamic analysis of a building structure.