High rents and longer tenancies boost Foxtons revenues

Tenants are paying more and signing up to longer tenancies, according to a trading update from Foxtons estate agents.

The London-listed company reported taking in £29.2m in lettings revenue in the three months from July to September this year, an 18% increase on the £24.8m taken in over the same period last year.

That increase came due to the rising rents. Foxtons cited strong domestic tenant demand, growth in international tenants and corporate relocations over the summer months, coupled with “constrained” rental stock.

At the same time there was a 23% increase in the average revenue per rental transaction as those higher rents along with longer tenancies made up for a 9% fall in the number of lettings that took place.

Lettings revenue for the year up to the end of September was £68.6m, up £10.9m, on the previous year.

There was also a dramatic rise in property sales income. Sales revenue for the period was up 44% to £11.9m.

The rise reflected a 39% increase in the volume of sales and a 2% increase in average revenue per transaction.

Higher volumes came from a “more normalised market” compared to 2021 which had been impacted by the 30 June 2021 stamp duty deadline.

For the nine months ended 30 September 2022 sales revenue was, however, down £0.8m to £32.7m, 2% less than the previous year.

The number of properties under offer was 15% higher at the end of September than the same point last year.

Despite a “robust quarter”, Foxtons said it enters the final quarter of the year with a “less certain market backdrop”. As a result it is alert to the macroeconomic and political challenges which may impact conversion to revenue in the final quarter.

Overall Foxton’s revenue for the three-month period was up £10.4m to £108.9m on 2021 levels.