Foxtons, the London-focused estate agent, recorded a drop in profit last year as sales activity slowed, but a robust rental market helped the group shrug off the worst of the downturn.
The popular estate agent said this morning that revenue from lettings grew 16 per cent to £101.2m during the year.
Amid a period of high inflation, landlords have been passing on price increases to their tenants, or selling up to avoid paying high rates on their mortgage.
This has led to limited supply, especially in the capital.
Tenants are also struggling to get on the housing ladder and renting for longer because they can not afford the price of a mortgage.
Foxtons said its lettings business is expected to “remain resilient” throughout the year.
They explained: “Lettings market supply and demand dynamics have normalised, with increased levels of available rental stock and fewer tenants registering for each available rental property compared to 2023.”
Overall, the firm said profit before tax slid 34 per cent to £7.9m.
Sales revenue fell 14 per cent to £37.2m as challenging market conditions were “partially mitigated by market share driven outperformance of the wider London market, which was down over 24 per cent on value”.
Guy Gittins, chief executive officer, said: “2023 was a year in which Foxtons has been fundamentally transformed. We have achieved a lot in a short space of time by making improvements across the business and Foxtons is now in much better shape than the company I inherited 18 months ago.
“We have restored Foxtons’ competitive advantages by investing in core capabilities, growing fee earners and reinvigorating our culture and this has been achieved ahead of schedule.
“As a result, Foxtons was the UK’s fastest growing large lettings and sales agency brand in the UK in 2023 and reclaimed its position as London’s leading estate agency.”