Newcastle-headquartered Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, said on Monday its occupancy level remains at record levels of over 98%.

Grainger CEO Helen Gordon said the firm is “very mindful of the financial challenges facing many individuals” and the company is taking a “responsible approach to rental increases, ensuring affordability for our customers remains a central consideration.”

The firm said it has also provided financial support to all its staff, excluding the senior executive team, through an additional £1,000 cost of living payment.

Grainger has a £3.1 billion portfolio of 10,000 homes and a £2.4 billion pipeline of a further 10,000 purpose-built rental homes.

The company published a trading update for the 11 months to the end of August 2022. 

CEO Gordon said: “Momentum in the business is continuing to accelerate and our mid-market strategy and in-house scalable operating platform has delivered a strong performance.

“Occupancy remains at record levels at over 98%. At the same time, like-for-like rental growth across our national portfolio is continuing to build over the second half of our financial year.

“Despite the buoyant rental market, we are very mindful of the financial challenges facing many individuals.

“We are therefore taking a responsible approach to rental increases, ensuring affordability for our customers remains a central consideration and balancing rent increases with retention.

“We are also supporting customers where we can with their other costs by continuing to invest in the energy efficiency of our portfolio, with nearly 90% of our PRS portfolio offering the highest energy ratings (A-C), providing substantial savings to our customers.

“In our newer properties, we are also providing free broadband and complimentary gyms, and we are providing practical advice and support to over 20,000 customers on how they can reduce their energy usage and costs, and other bills.

“In addition to supporting our customers, we have provided financial support to all of our colleagues, excluding our senior executive team, through an additional £1000 cost of living payment.”