British Land has acquired three retail parks for £94m and sold its 50% stake in another out-of-town retail destination in Preston.

The landlord said the deals are “in line with our strategy to actively recycle capital and consolidate our position as the largest owner and operator of retail parks” in the UK.

Since November, British Land has acquired the 300,000 sq ft Capitol Retail and Leisure Park in Preston for £51.5m, the 90,000 sq ft Solartron Retail Park in Farnborough for £35m and a 20,000 sq ft DFS warehouse in Cambridge for £7.35m.

British Land head of strategy and investment Kelly Cleveland said: “With retailers increasingly focused on the role of their stores, retail parks have emerged as a preferred format, due to their compatibility with omnichannel retail, their affordability and appeal to online resilient businesses.

“This is driving good occupational demand across the portfolio reflected in our 97% occupancy and growing ERVs.”

Retail parks continued to be among the most resilient retail destinations in Britain, even after the country has come out of Covid.

The Local Data Company’s Retail and Leisure Trends Analysis 2022, published last week, found that retail parks were the only retail location to achieve a net increase in new units last year, while vacancies dropped to 9%.

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