Land Secs steps up development to meet retail demand
Land Securities today said it had stepped up its activity in retail development, mostly in edge-of-town locations, and now had a £275m, 1m sq ft pipeline of opportunities to meet the growing demand from food and fashion retailers for space.
Chief executive Francis Salway said: “The outlook for development in London remains attractive and, despite the mixed messages in the retail sector, our leasing activity demonstrates that the stronger retailers are looking to take new space.”
Land Securities announced a fall in the vacancy rate in its like-for-like portfolio to 3.9% in the first quarter of its financial year, compared with 4.2% at the end of March. It said this void level included units let on a temporary basis at 1.0%, while a further 0.4% was under offer. Units in administration in the like-for-like portfolio were 0.6% at the end of June compared with 0.4% at the end of March.
The group achieved £9.5m of lettings in total during the quarter with a further £5.4m in solicitors’ hands. It said it had also recycled capital during the period through profitable asset sales – total property sales were £177.1m at 7.9% above March 2011 valuation at an average yield of 4.1%, and spending on new developments. It reported capital expenditure on developments in the quarter of £42.2m and acquired property acquisitions of £18.5m at an average yield of 2.1%.
