(Alliance News) - Grainger PLC on Wednesday said rental home demand remains "exceptionally high" after reporting on a "robust" sales performance.
The Newcastle Upon Tyne, England-based residential property developer and landlord said in the three months to January 31, total like-for-like growth was 8.3% compared to 6.1% a year ago, while private rented sector growth was 8.4% also compared to 6.1% the previous year.
PRS occupancy remained high in the year-to-date at 97% compared to 99% the previous year.
Grainger added that it continues to see "good levels of liquidity" in the residential sales market, and noted strong pricing, having achieved average sales prices 2.6% ahead of valuations.
As the firm's regulated tenancy portfolio reduces in size, it said it "naturally" expects to see volumes of sales reduce.
Last year, its portfolio reduced by around 14%, and is now GBP760 million as at September 2023 valuations). Meanwhile, its PRS portfolio is growing, currently valued at GBP2.5 billion.
"As previously stated, we continue our elevated asset recycling activity, selling tenanted properties, portfolios and land to reinvest the capital into our build-to-rent pipeline and new higher-yielding opportunities. We expect to deliver similar proceeds from sales for the full year, including asset recycling, compared to last year," it said.
Looking ahead, Grainger said that demand for renting remains "exceptionally high."
"We continue to achieve record levels of rental growth, and should wage growth ameliorate later this year, we expect rental growth to continue be higher than historic averages, driven by our market-leading operational platform. With local and national elections later this year, we are comfortable that political and regulatory risk for our business is low and that our responsible approach to delivering high quality rental homes for the mid-market is very much aligned to the main political parties' priorities," it said.
Chief Executive Officer Helen Gordon added: "Since our year end results in November, we have completed 307 homes at The Copper Works in Cardiff and continue with the phased delivery of homes at Weavers Yard in Newbury, with leasing in line with our underwriting assumptions. In the next month we will see two new build-to-rent schemes launching in Birmingham and Bristol totalling 606 homes.
"In line with our stated strategy, we are continuing to build on our geographic clusters of PRS (build-to-rent) developments which delivers operational and financial efficiencies, and we are on track with the delivery of our committed pipeline which will deliver significant growth in EPRA earnings over the coming years."
Shares in Grainger were up 1.4% at 264.40 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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Grainger plc (GRI)