McStone sees rental success in tough market

McCarthy & Stone has issued a trading update for the 14 month financial year ending October 31 2019 revealing that underlying operating profit is expected to be in the forecast range of around £64 million to around £71 million (2018 underlying operating profit: £67.5 million).

Full year revenue is expected to be around £720 million (2018: £672 million) supported by an around 3% increase in average selling price to around £308,000 (2018: £300,000) and total legal completions of 2,301 units (2018: 2,134).

The firms says that underlying trading conditions remained challenging during the period due to the impact of ongoing political and economic uncertainty on the secondary housing market. “Additional uncertainty over potential stamp duty changes dented transaction levels, particularly in the south east, resulting in higher discount and incentive levels compared to the prior year. These tougher market conditions are expected to continue throughout the new financial year.”

But McCarthy & Stone said that its new rental offering is gaining momentum, achieving recent net reservation rates of around seven per week. Its new multi-tenure options are now available across more than 70 developments nationally. The group delivered 101 rental transactions during the gradual roll out period together …