Rapidly expanding property group Lomond Capital is continuing to swoop on estate and letting agency acquisitions across the UK, and is on the verge of completing its first deal in London.

The latest acquisition is that of Tanat-Jones & Company which will now trade as Brand Vaughan, the prominent Sussex firm acquired in March.

The new acquisition brings the total number of properties under management in and around Brighton to over 1,500.

Lomond Capital still remains almost under the radar in much of the industry, after launching its proposition from a standing start some seven years ago in Scotland.

It said then that it would seek to consolidate letting agents by buying up agents in individual towns and cities. After starting in Aberdeen, it has worked its way south. Its name remains little known because it is not used as a high street agency trading brand.

Its purchases have been both big and small, but the firm has not so far targeted any online businesses, firmly sticking to high street acquisitions.

Lomon began by snapping up lettings-only businesses with numbers of properties under management, but has latterly snapped up agents with both sales and lettings activities.

Lomond secured £37.5m in acquisition funding earlier this year and is now building its presence ever-southwards.

At the weekend it said it is in the latter stages of negotiations to enter the London lettings and sales markets for the first time with further deals planned across the UK.

Lomond Capital also reiterated its aims to have over £4bn worth of properties under management by the end of next year, and to sell £1bn worth of property in 2018.

The group also recently restructured its senior management with the appointment of banking stalwart Pete Flockhart as chief financial officer and the promotion of Bruce Evans to chief executive.

Evans said: “Bringing Tanat-Jones into our portfolio firmly establishes our presence in Brighton and provides us with a genuine anchor in one of the UK’s most active rental markets. The Tanat-Jones reputation is fantastic and this deal really complements our approach to Brighton, which is delivered through Brand Vaughan.

“This acquisition is the beginning of a fresh push into new markets, including London, which could dramatically change the value of our portfolio.

“We are targeting to sell over £1bn worth of properties next year in addition to building our portfolio to over £4bn.

“Having a foothold in Brighton’s buoyant private rental sector is a crucial part of that strategy.”