Grainger LFL rents grow amid 'strong' market conditions in H2

Residential property business Grainger said on Monday that rents had grown 4.5% year-to-date on a like-for-like basis amid "strong" rental market conditions in the second half of the trading year.

Grainger, which highlighted a record occupancy rate of 98.2%, did note that despite the "buoyant rental market", it was also "very mindful" of financial challenges facing many individuals, leading it to take a "responsible approach" to rental increases.

The FTSE 250-listed group also stated that it currently had a £3.1bn operational portfolio of roughly 10,000 homes and a £2.4bn pipeline of a further 10,000 purpose-built rental homes.

Chief executive Helen Gordon said: "Momentum in the business is continuing to accelerate and our mid-market strategy and in-house scalable operating platform has delivered a strong performance. Occupancy remains at record levels at over 98%. At the same time, like-for-like rental growth across our national portfolio is continuing to build over the second half of our financial year."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com