A leading agency that’s hit trouble in the sales market says it’s benefitting on the lettings side because of the Renters Rights Act.
In an announcement to shareholders, Foxtons says: “Whilst the Renters’ Rights Act has created a period of transition for the sector, we are already seeing encouraging early benefits, including increased demand for property management services and continued growth in Build to Rent.
“The underlying performance of our lettings business remained strong and we continued to execute against our growth strategy, expanding into two new complementary, high-growth markets through acquisition.
“We remain confident the Act will strengthen Foxtons’ long-term growth opportunity by increasing demand for professional agency services and accelerating industry consolidation.
“This is creating attractive opportunities to expand our footprint and increase market share, and we intend to build on the momentum of recent acquisitions through a pipeline of bolt-on opportunities, complemented by targeted organic investment.
“With our strong brand, scalable platform and a clear growth strategy we remain well positioned to create long-term value for shareholders.”
The agency tells its backers that it has performed relatively well on lettings with 29% growth in Build To Rent revenue as well as 17% growth in revenue “from ancillary landlord and tenant services”.
There’s also been 10% growth in the cross-sell of property management services.
But on the sales side the agency reported significant issues.
It says it’s saved some £3m through what it calls “right-sizing” because of a sales market slump. Overall the agency has saved £4.5m in the past year.
In a curt announcement to the London Stock Exchange it states: “Completed a detailed operational review and implementing operating model changes to optimise the business for the prevailing lower-volume market.
“Cost savings have been delivered through rightsizing actions, while ongoing operational enhancements are expected to drive further improvement in productivity, efficiency and margins.”
Guy Gittins, Chief Executive Officer, tells shareholders: “Against a challenging backdrop of continued sales market weakness and short-term lettings volatility, we continued to execute on our strategy, with our long-term focus on accelerating growth in non-cyclical and recurring Lettings revenues underpinning performance through these headwinds.
“In Sales, we’ve taken action to align the business with market conditions and support performance at lower transaction volumes. With 2026 likely to prove one of the lowest years for London transaction volumes on record, we urge the new cabinet to prioritise Stamp Duty reform, which remains the single biggest barrier to home moving – for first-time buyers trying to get on the ladder, for growing families and for those looking to downsize.”
