The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which rejected a 15-month debt standstill for Intu, believes there will be sufficient interest in the shopping centre to recoup the £250m it lent against the asset, The Sunday Times reported.

A sale of the Trafford Centre would be a litmus test for retail property valuations, which have been hit hard by changing shopping habits and the closure of consumer businesses during the coronavirus lockdown.

Landlords have also been hit by retailers’ inability or refusal to pay rent as the health emergency decimated trade.