Winkworth has announced that its gross sale income in the first half of the year fell 40% compared with the same period in 2021, but was almost 50% higher compared with the corresponding period in 2019.

The London based estate agency said that gross sales income benefited from buyers taking advantage of last year’s stamp duty holiday – introduced by the now former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

The company said it believed there was a backlog of ‘unfulfilled’ sales transactions which will be carried out in the second half, and that it was encouraged by the good levels of sales applications and valuations which should provide support to volumes in the second half.

The outlook for the lettings sector also continued to be strong, with gross lettings income up 6% year-on-year.

The company said: “While the UK economic outlook and confidence in the housing market remain in question, the directors are pleased with the company’s performance in 1H, 2022 and expect that full year pre-tax profits will be in line with the market forecast of £2.1m, marking a substantial increase on the outcome for 2019.”

Winkwortth plans to pay 2.7 pence dividend in H2 2021.