Lettings helps London agency boost part-year profits to five-year high

A surge in the lettings market has helped Chestertons post its best half-year profit level for the past five years.

The London-focussed agency describes its performance as “stellar” but it gives no specific revenue or profit figures to support its claim.

It says its revenue for the first six months of the year is up by six per cent compared to the same period of 2018, helping it achieve its most profitable position at the half-year mark since 2014.

The company’s performance was led by its lettings division, which posted an 11 per cent uplift in revenue “driven by a surge in the number of tenants registering and an increase in the number of long and short-let tenancies agreed.”

The sales division saw only a two per cent rise in revenue, which it says it set against “a substantial fall in sales transactions” of around 16 per cent in the early part of this year according to the Land Registry.

Guy Gittins, Chestertons’ managing director, says: “While the fall in sales transactions across the country has undoubtedly created a difficult market for estate agents, the market is far from being dead. We have registered 13% more buyers so far this year compared to last year. However, the lack of owners willing to put their properties on the market - due to a variety of reasons - continues to restrict movement in the market.

“Meanwhile, with reduced sales activity, we have seen our lettings market enjoy rapid and sustained growth with 10 per cent more tenants registering than at the same point last year, causing rental prices in many areas to start creeping up again.”