Residential landlord Grainger confident in future of London’s ‘attractive’ rental market
Residential landlord Grainger said it is confident in London’s ability to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, despite slumping rental prices in the capital.
The FTSE 250 developer said this morning that its “conviction in London’s rental market remains”.
“As a leading city, London will continue to be an attractive location to live in and it will experience population and economic growth in the near term as restrictions are lifted, and in the longer term, which will underpin rental growth and support valuations.”
Like-for-like rental growth in the first half was 1.7 per cent, down from 3.4 per cent the previous year.
Private rental sector like-for-like growth was one per cent, a drop compared to the three per cent recorded in the first half of the previous year.
Grainger said the drop reflected its “focus on customer retention”. Rental growth was achieved in all regions, with London underperforming compared to the rest of the country.
Grainger posted 11 per cent growth in adjusted earnings in the six months ended 31 March, driven by a 30 per cent jump in sales profit.