Martin & Co and EweMove parent group The Property Franchise Group says its member businesses have beaten the tenant fees ban and achieved record revenues for lettings.
The claim is made within its latest trading update for 2019 which reveals that its management fee revenues from franchisees increased by 2.13% to £9.6 million, and that the number of rented properties under management increased by nearly 6% to 58,000.
TPFG does not reveal how its franchisees have recouped their income following the fees ban that went live on June 1st in England and September 1st in Wales last year, but says it encouraged franchisees to have a ‘mitigation plan’, something it is expected to reveal within its full results in March.
The group says its EweMove hybrid agency is set to report a significant increase in profit during 2019 despite the fees ban and that the business is ‘robust’.
But TPFG only makes a passing reference to its sales division, which it says expects to make hay during 2020 as an expected post-Brexit economic ‘bounce-back’ raises sales volumes and house prices.
“This is my last year with TPFG and I’m delighted that we have continued the journey that we started with our IPO in December 2013, having materially increased the dividend every year,” says Chief Executive Ian Wilson (left).
“Our ability to deliver revenue growth and continued operational progress over the year, notwithstanding the market headwinds, is testament to the strength of our business and the franchise model.
“Looking ahead, there are numerous opportunities for us to now build further momentum across the business, as we continue to invest in our traditional brands and EweMove remains robust.
“In parallel we will focus our attention on growing a national mortgage brokerage network under our newly created financial services division.”
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