(Sharecast News) - Residential property business Grainger hailed "another year of record delivery" on Thursday, with an acceleration in both rental growth and sales.

Grainger brought in like-for-like private rented sector rental growth of 8.0% and record occupancy of 98.6%. Sales totalled £194.0m, while vacant regulated sales came to £70.0m.

Chief executive Helen Gordon said: "Sales remain robust, valuations continue to demonstrate resilience, and our balance sheet remains strong. We continue to successfully execute on our growth plans which will see our post-tax EPRA earnings double in the next three years.

"This year is another year of record delivery of new homes for Grainger. We are due to complete over 1,600 new build-to-rent homes in 2023, driving a further step change in EPRA earnings and bringing our total operational portfolio to over 10,000 homes."

Gordon added that Grainger's "strong operational performance" was coupled with a strong balance sheet, positioning it "well in the current market" with a fixed cost of debt in the mid 3%'s for the next five years.

As of 0910 BST, Grainger shares were up 1.05% at 230.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com