LSL Property Services has struck a long-term deal with the UK’s largest property franchisor The Property Franchise Group to offer mortgage and protection advice services to all TPFG’s franchisees.

LSL says the agreement, for a minimum of five years, will see it provide digital and face-to-face mortgage and protection advice to the customers of TPFG and its franchisees.

It adds the move is “part of its strategy to grow its market share in financial services”.

TPFG franchisees will work with LSL’s 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 says the deal will boost its “financial services division profit after an initial 12-18 month investment period requiring one-off transition and integration costs”.

Under the terms of the deal, LSL’s financial services businesses will be recommended by TPFG to its franchisees as the preferred provider of mortgage and protection advice.

Following the completion of the agreement, LSL has begun to recruit additional advisers required to meet the expected volumes arising from referrals from around 23,000 house sales completed annually by TPFG and its franchisees.

LSL says it anticipates that the service will be “fully operational by the end of 2021”.

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

LSL says it will use Mortgage Gym in the partnership, a digital platform that confirms mortgage eligibility within 60 seconds, matching borrowers to potential lenders. LSL bought Mortgage Gym earlier this year.

LSL group chief executive Officer David Stewart says: “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 TPTG.”

TPTG group chief executive Gareth Samples adds: “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.”