Hunters Property confident it will adapt to government's ban on tenant fees

14th Dec 2016 11:16

(ShareCast News) - Letting agency Hunters Property said it confident that it could manage and adapt to the government's plan to ban tenant fees, while its performance has been little changed despite uncertainty arisen since the Brexit vote.In the autumn statement in November, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that letting agents would be banned from charging tenants fees, following a similar move in Scotland in 2012.The company said it will monitor and review the government's proposal but it is "confident it can manage and adapt accordingly", as the industry did not experience long term damage after it was introduced in Scotland.Trading for the year is anticipated to be "significantly ahead of last year and slightly ahead of expectations, despite uncertainty surrounding the housing market in the wake of the EU referendum and the changes to stamp duty.The company said its performance in the first half the year continued well into the second half.Network income for the year so far to 31 October rose 19% to about £29m, compared to the same period last year, split 58/42 between the south and the north., while lettings income increased by 18%.In the fourth quarter the company said it had started with a "strong" pipeline of sales, lettings and scheduled branch openings, adding to its 180 branches, 11 of which are owned and 169 franchised.The recruitment of franchisees and roll-out of new branches is on-track to exceed 30 or more new branches for the third consecutive year.Towards the end of the year and looking to 2017, the company expects significant further network expansion during through attracting high-quality franchisees. It intends to also increase the final dividend, on the back of full year results, expected to be announced around 26 April.Shares in Hunters Property were down 1.96% to 64.22p at 0821 GMT.