Listed landlord Grainger Plc will update shareholders at its AGM today on a strong start to the year, with increasing rental growth.
The Newcastle business, the UK’s largest listed provider of private rental homes, issued a trading update ahead of the meeting on the first four months of its financial year to the end of January 2022.
The update highlighted a 97% occupancy rate across its PRS portfolio – which represents around 75% of total net rental income – with total like-for-like rental growth accelerating by 3.2%.
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It said rent collection remains strong at 98%, with like-for-like growth in PRS up 3%, in line with its expectations of returning to growth of 3-3.5%, driven by the fact it remained positive throughout the pandemic.
The company said its £1.9bn pipeline of developments is expected to deliver growth in recurring earnings by approximately 2.5 times over the medium term, and that schemes which launched last year having been booking in leases ahead of expectations and underwriting.
It said apartment schemes in Southampton, Manchester, London and Leeds were 98-100% let or reserved.
A further four new assets will be launched this year, comprising 1,174 new rental homes.
Grainger – which was awarded Residential Asset Manager of the Year at the RESI Awards – said the sales performance from its regulated tenancy portfolio remains strong across all regions with an acceleration in London. It added that sales prices achieved remain ahead of valuations by between 1-2%.
Helen Gordon, chief executive, said: “We have delivered a strong performance for the start of our financial year. We have achieved occupancy in our PRS portfolio of 97%, an improvement since the year end.
"Rental growth is strengthening further at 3.2%, having remained positive throughout the pandemic.
“This performance is testament to our strong operational platform. Our customers recognise the value in our high-quality homes and great service.”
Shares rose 3.2% in early trading to 296p.
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