27 April 2021

LSL Property Services plc ("LSL" or "Group")

LSL announces five-year agreement to provide digital and face-to-face mortgage and protection advice to The Property Franchise Group's expanded network of over 430 estate agency offices

As part of its strategy to grow its market share in Financial Services, LSL Property Services plc ("LSL") announces that it has reached a long-term agreement with the UK's largest property franchisor, The Property Franchise Group plc ("TPFG"), to offer mortgage and protection advice services to all TPFG's franchisees, including those recently incorporated as a result of its combination with Hunters Property Ltd. The Property Franchise Group now has over 430 physical office locations, conducts the sale of circa 23,000 properties per annum and manages in excess of 73,000 tenanted properties.

The agreement is for a minimum of a five-year period and means that LSL will be providing digital and face-to-face mortgage and protection advice to the customers of TPFG and TPFG's franchisees.  TPFG franchisees will be provided with a range of options via LSL's award winning PRIMIS Mortgage Network. Franchisees will be offered the opportunity either to take on their own mortgage adviser and become an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS, or to refer their customers to existing PRIMIS Appointed Representatives, including LSL's in-house mortgage brokers.  

LSL is already one of the largest providers of services to mortgage intermediaries and mortgage & protection advice to estate agency customers completing c£32.6bn of mortgages in 2020.  It currently represents around 9% of the total purchase and remortgage market with over 2,600 advisers.

This agreement underlines the opportunity for further growth of its Financial Services businesses, leveraging LSL's existing leading positions in the mortgage advice market.  This contract will enhance the Financial Services Division profit after an initial 12-18 month investment period requiring one-off transition and integration costs.

Details of the agreement

The agreement covers the five year period to April 2026 during which time LSL's Financial Services businesses will be recommended by The Property Franchise Group to its franchisees as the preferred provider of mortgage and protection advice. 

LSL will be deploying an innovative service which combines face-to-face advisors with a central team providing video and telephone advice, all supported by Mortgage Gym technology, following LSL's purchase of this technology on 11^th February 2021. Face-to-face advice will be provided by introduction to local advisers with franchisees also having the option to offer mortgage and protection advice as an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network.

Following the completion of the agreement, LSL has commenced the process to recruit the additional advisers required to meet the expected volumes arising from referrals from c23,000 house sales completed annually by TPFG and its franchisees. It is anticipated that the service will be fully operational by the end of 2021.  Thereafter, volumes are expected to continue to grow as the service is embedded and, in time, benefits from repeat business from established clients.

As part of this agreement, LSL and TPFG also plan to work together to develop a specialist mortgage advice service designed specifically for landlords. The aim of this collaboration will be to create a market-leading mortgage proposition that can support the needs of both LSL and TPFG landlords.   

Use of Mortgage Gym technology

Mortgage Gym has developed an innovative digital platform that confirms mortgage eligibility within 60 seconds, matching borrowers to potential lenders. As well as the benefits to customers, it also improves adviser productivity and, through its Customer Relationship Management system, helps engage customers at the right time through the process. Its use will enable advisers to quickly and cost-effectively confirm mortgage eligibility of a potential house purchaser, including the likely sums that could be borrowed, enabling both the potential purchaser and estate agent to progress a transaction with confidence. The technology also ensures that both the potential purchaser and estate agent have a clear understanding of the potential budget when searching for a new home. 

David Stewart, Group Chief Executive Officer of LSL, said:

"I am delighted we have been selected by The Property Franchise Group plc as the preferred long-term provider of mortgage and protection advice.  We have previously set out our ambition to accelerate the growth in our Financial Services Division including PRIMIS Mortgage Network and this agreement underlines the scale of this opportunity. It also provides early validation of our decision in February 2021 to purchase Mortgage Gym, whose technology gives us a clear competitive advantage and helped win the support of The Property Franchise Group plc. I look forward to providing more details when we release our Preliminary Results tomorrow."

Gareth Samples, Group Chief Executive Officer of The Property Franchise Group, said:

"We have publicly committed to growing the financial services capability available to our network and LSL has emerged quickly as the best option for our franchisees. I am delighted that we will now be able to help them to generate additional income, in partnership with LSL. Together we will develop a new digital mortgage journey that really meets the needs of our customers and our franchisees. I believe LSL has an unparalleled understanding of how to provide high quality mortgage and protection advice to estate agency customers and I look forward to building a market-leading digital and face-to-face service to the significant benefit of both groups."

Notes on LSL

LSL is one of the largest providers of services to mortgage intermediaries and mortgage & protection advice to estate agency customers, completing £32.6bn of mortgages in 2020. It represents approximately 9% of the total purchase and remortgage market with around 2,600 financial advisers. PRIMIS Mortgage Network was named Mortgage Network of the Year by both Moneyfacts and Mortgage Introducer in their 2020 awards, as well as Best Network 300+ ARs by Mortgage Strategy.

e.surv is one of the UK's largest provider of surveying and valuation services, supplying seven out of the ten largest lenders in the UK, employing over 500 operational surveyors, and performing over 500,000 valuation and surveys per annum for key lender clients. It was named Best Surveyor/Valuer at the 2020 Mortgage Strategy awards.

LSL operates a network of 226 owned and 130 franchised estate agency branches, with brands that include Your Move, Reeds Rains and Marsh & Parsons.

PRIMIS Mortgage Network is the trading style of First Complete Limited, Advance Mortgage Funding Limited and Personal Touch Financial Services Limited.  All networks are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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