Estate agency giant LSL has reported profits for 2021 but warned that investors should not expect such a stellar performance during 2022 as the housing market returns to pre-pandemic transaction levels.

Group Chief Executive David Stewart (pictured) has applauded the firm’s strong performance during 2021 which saw group revenue up by 23% to £327 million and a profit of £49.3 million, which is an increase of 40% on 2020.

Like many estate agencies, its results for 2021 look extremely good compared to the difficult Covid months of 2020, but LSL says its brands such as Reed Raines (main pic), YourMove and Marsh & Parsons increased market share across its estate agency division within their core catchment areas, and profits at these businesses were up 53% despite difficulties late last year with conversion of its pipeline.

Stewart has blamed this on the Stamp Duty deadline stampede that caused huge issues with conveyancing capacity across the industry.

But he warns that: “Following the COVID-19 led boom we expect housing and mortgage transactions in 2022 to be more in line with the levels we saw prior to the pandemic, with inflation and the pressure on household finances also having an impact.

Further risk

“Geopolitical uncertainty adds further risk. These issues are expected to affect our estate agency division in particular, and as always, we will be agile and respond to market conditions as necessary.”

The group’s final Annual Report for 2021 also reveals that Covid cost its estate agency business £3.2 million which, although it does not reveal more details, is likely to include the furlough costs of managing its workforce during the first four months of last year.

Although it claimed cash from the government for this, these were subsequently returned to HMRC.