Meadowhall owner British Land has reported a fall in valuations and retail rent as the coronavirus pandemic piled pressure on annual performance.

British Land, which also own shopping destinations such as Fort Kinnaird, reported that the value of its property fell by 26.1% “as ongoing structural challenges were exacerbated at the year-end valuation date by the early effects of Covid-19”.

The property giant said that following the outbreak, it had collected 43% of rent due between March 2 and April 30. British Land said that 40% of rent owed has been deferred, 4% forgiven, and that 12% is outstanding, “primarily owed by strong retailers”. A further 1% has been switched to monthly payments.

The collapse of a variety of retailers into administration during the pandemic led to lost rent of £5.1m.

During the lockdown, from March 23 until May 10, British Land said that footfall was down 78% and like-for like-sales slid 82%. It reported that ”grocery anchored sites performed better, with footfall down 70% and sales down 42%”.

British Land chief executive Chris Grigg expected the retail landscape to change further as the health emergency drives shifts in shopping behaviour that were already evident.

He said: ”Longer term, it is our view that many of the macro trends that have informed our strategy will accelerate. This includes the growth of online shopping, reinforcing our focus on delivering a smaller, more focused retail business. 

”We continue to believe there remains a role for the right kind of retail within our portfolio, especially assets that can play a key role for retailers in terms of fulfilment of online sales, returns and click and collect.

”This will particularly be the case for well located, open air retail parks, which lend themselves to more mission-based shopping and people may feel more comfortable visiting, as well as those London assets located conveniently in-and-around key transport hubs.”

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