While the new-build property market may be going through something of a slump at the moment, anyone who has looked at the private rented sector of late will know rents are only going one way – up.

Recent updates from estate agents Belvoir (BLV:AIM) and Foxtons (FOXT) have highlighted both the strength of the rental market and the significant under-supply of prime properties.

With housing starts averaging around 180,000 per year compared with net migration of 500,000 people per year, plus individuals coming into the UK to study at university and on visas, upward pressure on rents is growing all the time.

The Property Franchise Group (TPFG:AIM) is the UK’s largest property franchisor, with nine brands, 577 territories and 76,000 tenanted managed properties.

For 2022, the group generated £27.2 million revenue, up 13% on the previous year, and pre-tax profit of £8.8 million, up 38%. That led to a 12% increase in the dividend to 13p per share which was more than twice covered by earnings per share of 28.4p.

Chief executive Gareth Samples told Shares 2022 had been the busiest year he had ever seen for lettings due to ‘a lack of stock, unprecedented demand and rising mortgage costs’ which are all driving rental inflation.

Even the seasonally quiet first quarter of 2023 has been ahead of management expectations in terms of revenue and profit, helped by strategic actions last year which included assisting franchisees to make 19 portfolio acquisitions (up from 11 in 2021), adding nearly 1,900 properties to their books and £2.1 million in annualised income.

The lettings business is exceptionally cash-generative, allowing the firm to repay the £7.5 million outstanding balance of the £12.5 million loan it used to fund the Hunters acquisition in March 2021 (its biggest deal to date), increase the final dividend and still end last year with a positive net cash balance of £1.7 million.

Admittedly the sales business, which includes EweMove, is likely to lag the lettings side as the volume of transactions in the UK housing market is expected to fall further this year towards the pre-pandemic level of 1.06 million, but it will be more than offset by growth in lettings.

On top of the growth, the chief executive is excited about the firm’s adoption of a new customer relationship management software system and the pooling of data from its near-600 offices around the country which he believes will drive greater efficiencies and synergies in the way the company operates.

‘As we grow, so does our data and the opportunity that represents in digital marketing,’ says Samples.

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