LSL pay £9.1 Million for a percentage of Colchester based Mortgage Company.

February 22, 2016

I spent a leisurely afternoon last Friday, after the news was made public, with one of the smaller share holders of the very recent LSL deal to purchase 65% of the Colchester based Mortgage First business, and I rejoice with them in the rewards that sticking at a business and within a industry sector for a number of years really does pay off.

LSL property services, has been reported to have taken a 65% interest in the company Group First Limited which is a local business to us in Colchester offering mortgages and protection advice for mostly news homes. A total of £9.1 million in cash will be paid initially with a further amount to complete the purchase in 2017.

Paul Maston, CEO of Group First Limited, will remain as CEO (he founded the business in 1988). There were other share holders involved during the company’s journey to it’s current position.

Ian Crabb who is the LSL Group CEO, is quoted as saying: “This investment supports LSL’s strategy to grow long term profitability in the provision of residential property services in the UK, by identifying value enhancing opportunities. Further, the investment strengthens LSL’s relationships with its key house builder clients.”

Report on London Stock Exchange website can be viewed here.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Housing Insight Report: June 2026

June’s housing market remained active, but buyers and renters continued to show caution. Buyer registrations dipped, while sales agreed remained broadly stable. In lettings, demand continued to outstrip supply, with nine applicants per available property. The average number of new prospective buyers registered per member branch dipped during June 2026, with an average of 55.…
Read More →
Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2026

Main points Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.7%, to £1,393, in the 12 months to July 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is up from 3.3% in the 12 months to June 2026. Average rents increased to £1,451 (3.8%) in England, £843 (4.5%) in Wales, and £1,016 (1.7%) in Scotland, in the…
Read More →
Breaking News

Scrapping Stamp Duty could unlock 300,000 extra home moves a year

Economic growth in key regions, such as around Cambridge and the ‘tech corridor’ being held back by stagnant housing market. Rathbones argues that a more mobile housing market could help unlock part of the UK’s £5.5 trillion housing wealth.   Reforming Britain’s property tax system could unlock more than 300,000 additional housing transactions each year…
Read More →
new build home fronts
Breaking News

New-build property across Great Britain increased in price

The average house price for a new-build property across Great Britain increased to £501,658 in July 2026. The West Midlands recorded the largest average price increase, with the average new-build house price rising to £418,281 in July 2026. Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the smallest average increase, with the average house price rising to £347,846 in…
Read More →
Breaking News

Where London leavers are paying a premium for green space

New research from UK Property Development (UKPD shows that Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire command the highest green space premiums among London’s commuter counties, with homebuyers paying a premium of up to 15.3% to live within a stone’s throw of public green space.   UKPD has compared the average asking price of properties for sale within…
Read More →
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 18/8/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Removing inefficiency that comes from humans having to understand where every piece of information lives   Thought Leadership by Fredérick Wakim, Founder of ImmoAdmin “For most of the software era, making a property management platform better meant adding something to it. Another dashboard. Another…
Read More →