A North West-headquartered commercial property company has reported an increase in profits and said that occupancy and rents have both risen in the last financial year.
Langtree, which specialises in joint ventures and partnerships with local authorities as well as providing asset management services to institutional landlords, has more than 3 million sq ft of property under ownership or management, covering more than 600 tenants within the group portfolio.
The estate currently enjoys 92 per cent occupancy, producing an annual rent roll of £23m and is valued at £530m. It covers sites across the North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands, and the South West.
The current gross development value of the assets under its control exceeds £1bn for the first time.
In its results for the year 2021/22, the business reported profit before tax of £5.3m and a 45 per cent increase in net asset value to £16.4m, but says the firm needs to be ‘ever vigilant’, given current economic headwinds.
“This is a very strong set of results delivered by an exceptional team in every part of the business,” said chairman Tim Johnston.
“Many of our office and laboratory tenants work in collaborative industries where their teams value immediate access to colleagues so we found much less of the ‘voluntary absenteeism’ that affected other managed estates during and after the pandemic and so we have not been materially affected by the anticipated impact on commercial real estate of increased home working.
“Our overall occupancy increased as a result of the strong letting performance of our three speculative office buildings, known as Violet, at Sci-Tech Daresbury, which are now 86 per cent let and achieving record rents on the campus. It’s given us the confidence to push ahead with a further 53,000 sq ft of new offices and laboratories.”
He added: “Langtree is a solid commercial business which is an ideal platform allowing us to undertake and deliver complex regeneration projects that are both value-creating and which support our local authority partners’ social and economic ambitions.
“We have also strengthened our numbers again this year to ensure that we remain on the front foot and once again the team deserves great credit for their effort.”
Among the new recruits is the addition of a dedicated ESG manager to provide full-time input to the firm’s long-standing focus on delivering social value through its environmentally sustainable developments.
