Property market: signs of life
The country’s first alternative business structure (ABS) and largest conveyancing business revealed strong annual results yesterday.
Premier Property Lawyers – which became an ABS on 6 October 2011 – is part of My Home Move (MHM), which also has a panel management operation.
MHM recorded a 14% rise in turnover in 2012 to £26.6m, with net profit soaring from £994,000 in 2011 to £5m.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) shot up 41% to £3.4m.
MHM completed nearly 30,000 transactions in 2012 – an increase of 14% on the year before – “thanks to investments in new technology and operational efficiency”. A statement said: “By strengthening its infrastructure, the company capitalised on the upturn in the property sector, resulting in profitable growth.”
MHM said the housing market began to stabilise last year, following the launch of the government’s Funding for Lending and NewBuy schemes, coupled with the ready availability of buy-to-let mortgages. In all 587,000 house sales were made last year, an increase of 2.1%.
MHM chief executive Doug Crawford said: “These results reflect the hard work and dedication of everyone at myhomemove. Whilst 2012 ended on a high, with house prices up by 3.4%, it was still a tough 12 months for those working in the sector. It was our ability to respond to the changing market, due to our early investment in our staff, new technology and customer service practices which led to our success.”
MHM launched new technology that allows clients to read, review and action their conveyancing files online, in turn helping to speed up the process, and increased its staffing levels across operations and administration by 20% last year as part of major expansion plans.
“We have now laid the foundation for the next phase of myhomemove’s expansion,” said Mr Crawford. “Over the next three years we aim to treble our transaction volumes by expanding our introducer network, diversifying our services and investing in our staff. We are keen to plough our profits back into our business, to ensure our future is sustainable.”
