British Land has provided an update on operational performance in which rent collection was at 71% for the first quarter of 2021.
The group said of the £86m billed (which doesn’t include Scottish assets that are billed in February and quarterly payments for February and March), 24% was outstanding – the majority of which was from its retail assets.
A breakdown of the rent collection showed just 46% of the £42m rent billed across its retail portfolio has so far been received, with 45% outstanding.
Its office portfolio was far better, with 95% of the £44m received and just 4% outstanding.
Christmas trading period
The group said footfall and sales were resilient in the four weeks to Christmas across its retail portfolio and on 24 December 73% of its stores were open.
From 30 November until 26 December, footfall was 76% of the level achieved last year. There was a small difference in performance between assets in different tiers, it noted, with those in tier 4, 5 percentage points weaker on average than the other tiers due to the closure of non-essential stores.
Like-for-like retailer sales for stores that were open were 81% of the same period last year and there was no notable difference in performance between assets in different tiers, the group said.
Well located, open-air retail parks proved most resilient, it said, with footfall 87% of the same period last year and sales 85% of the same period last year.
Following the move into national lockdown, 32% of stores (620 stores) in British Land’s retail portfolio are trading in some way, as at 7 January.
BLND : British Land receives 71% of rents for first quarter