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Grainger posts half-year loss despite strong rental growth
Build-to-rent (BTR) giant Grainger has posted a £14.6m pre-tax loss in its half-year results despite strong rental growth of 8%.
Build-to-rent giant Grainger has posted a £14.6m pre-tax loss in its half-year results despite strong rental growth of 8% #UKhousingThe BTR landlord posted a pre-tax loss of £14.6m for the six months to March 2026, down from a £74m profit the year before.
The loss was largely due to a 1.1% valuation decline on Grainger’s property portfolio, which the landlord attributed to the “challenging macroeconomic backdrop”.
However, its net rental income grew to £66.1m – up 7.8% on the previous year.
The increase was driven by a combination of a strong lease-up of Grainger’s recent pipeline scheme launches, which contributed £5.7m, along with another year of good rental growth.
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Grainger’s overall like-for-like rental growth decreased by 13.9% to 3.1%, down from 3.6% in 2025. The BTR landlord said this was in line with expectations and its long-run average rate of between 3% to 3.5%, which it expects to continue by the end of the year, supported by wage inflation.
Grainger’s BTR portfolio rental growth was 2.9%, down from 3.4% the previous year. Rental growth on renewals also decreased to 3.3%, down from 4.5%, with new lets at 2%, down from 1.8%.
Its occupancy rate fell to 95.9%, down from 98% the previous year.
Grainger said it expects its full-year BTR growth to be in line with its average rate, reflecting normal patterns of seasonality as demand grows into the second half.
The BTR landlord’s finance costs increased by 4.8% to £21.8m, up from £20.8m the previous year. This was caused by one-off costs related to refinancing its bank debt, with benefits of this to be delivered in the second half of the year and beyond, Grainger said.
Grainger’s sales revenue also increased by 25.6% to £58.8m, up from £79m the previous year. Since March, it has exchanged on a further £23m of sales.
BTR now makes up 85% of its operational portfolio. The organisation said it is on track to deliver its targeted earnings growth from its committed pipeline to £60m by the end of 2026 and £72m by the end of 2029.
Helen Gordon, chief executive of Grainger, said: “Earlier this month the new Renters’ Rights Act took effect, which we have supported from the beginning.
“The new legislation strikes a balance between tenant and landlord rights, albeit it is contributing to structural changes in the sector, with smaller private landlords exiting and larger-scale, professional landlords gaining market share.”
Ms Gordon added: “We have limited energy cost exposure, insulating us and our customers from inflationary cost pressures over the coming months.
“We remain focused on our financial discipline and have a clear capital allocation strategy designed to deliver shareholder value, with a focus on reducing net debt from our disposals programme in order to offset higher interest rates as our low-cost debt facilities mature.
“And as we complete our committed pipeline of high quality BTR schemes, our earnings will grow as we leverage our sector-leading operational platform.”
Last week, Grainger Trust, Grainger’s for-profit affordable housing provider, posted a fall in turnover, largely due to fewer shared ownership sales.
In January, Grainger and Transport for London’s property company agreed to forward-fund and buy a 195-home BTR scheme in west London.
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