LSL Property Services says its first-half trading was “impacted by significant changes in the mortgage market” following successive Bank of England rate rises.
The moves by the central bank have lower levels of purchase and remortgage activity, which will only be partly offset by an uplift in lower margin product transfers, says the group, whose brands include e.surv, and the Primus and TMA mortgage networks.
The Bank of England of England lifted the base rate for the 14th time in a row to 5.25% last week from 0.10% in December 2021, a 15-year high.
The property group says in the six months to the end of June its house purchase lending slumped by 27%, remortgage lending fell by 15%, while its less profitable product transfer business lifted by 48%.
It says group sales in the first half of the year are around £104m, 20% lower compared to 12 months ago.
The business says its surveying and financial services units in the second half of the year will continue to be “significantly impacted” by lower levels of house purchases and remortgages.
LSL Property Services group chief executive David Stewart says: “Market conditions have been challenging, and more recently have become more difficult, impacting this year’s financial performance.
“Our strong balance sheet allows us to take a long-term view and we will continue to invest to deliver our financial services network growth strategy and retain the capacity required to enable our surveying business to meet the future demands of our clients.”
