YOUNGER people influenced by television programmes have helped boost profits at The Grainger Trust.

The property investor, which is based in the North-East, saw profits before tax rise by 57 per cent in the last six months, it reported last night.

Grainger, the UK's largest quoted residential property investor and trader, which employs 170 staff across England, including 75 in its Newcastle base, said it was boosted by the booming property market.

Young people influenced by television programmes such as Changing Rooms were buying older properties with a view to renovating them, and sometimes reselling at a profit, the trust said.

The trust's chairman, Robert Dickinson, said: "This has been another excellent trading performance by the group.

"Sales in our core tenanted residential business have been strong and our development and trading division has produced good results from the disposal of our commercial portfolio and from land sales.

"All areas of the country have shown good levels of house price growth, reflecting the fact that our typical properties are below the UK average value and are unmodernised when they are released for sale."

Finance director Andrew Cunningham told The Northern Echo: "We are riding on the back of house price increases as our main business is selling houses.

"The healthy demand for property has been very good for us.

"But if the market slows down, it is unlikely to affect us too much because our business is long-term property investments, whereas the peaks and troughs of the housing market are often short-lived."

In the six-month period to March 31 Grainger sold 676 properties for £73.6m, compared with 784 for £69.4m in the same period last year.

Grainger Homes, its householding subsidiary, sold 78 properties for £7.4m, making a profit of £1m.