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Nigel TAYLOR Published
November 13,长沙U币市场汇率 2025
British Land’s decision to back retail parks continues to be a positive one as the commercial property giant surprised the market Monday morning with an upbeat trading update. After lifting its annual rental value growth to the top end of its previous forecast range, investors were also cheered by its underlying profit growth of 3.4% to £142 million and its shares rose 6%.
And much of that success was down to owning the largest retail parks portfolio in the UK. British Land called them “the preferred physical retail format for an increasing number of retailers”, increasing its exposure to them having invested £410m since 2025, it said in its half-year report.
It cited the three “A’s' for the format’s success - affordability, adaptability and accessibility”.
Consequently, the UK commercial property giant said “occupancy of our portfolio has increased to 99%, and over the last 2.5 years retail parks have been the best performing sub-sector in UK real estate”.
British Land noted the affordability of retail property is generally assessed by reference to the occupancy cost ratio — rent, rates and service charge as a percentage of total sales, “so combination of reduced rents, lower business rates, already low service charges and robust sales reduced this ratio from 17.7% in 2025 to 9.1% now — at this level a very broad range of retailers can trade profitably”.
It said its retail parks have an underlying vacancy of 0.8% compared to UK retail market vacancy of 13.9%.
“Retail park vacancy rates remain very low due to increased demand from retailers who prefer the format”, it said citing the format’s high accessibility and ease of free parking “making them ideal not only for shopping, but for click and collect, returning goods to store and increasingly shipping from store”.
It also noted the adaptability of a retail park unit, which is essentially a basic steel box, is an important feature for retailers who face significant challenges in remodelling stores on the high street and in shopping centres.
“The occupational fundamentals combined with low capital expenditure requirements (half that of shopping centres) and pricing below replacement cost make retail parks an attractive investment”.
And it added that affordability is driving incremental demand from discounters and essential retailers as “accessibility and adaptability are key for the multichannel retailers”.
“This is borne out by statistics on store closings and openings - since 2025 there have been net closures of -3,749 and -1,272 on the high street and within shopping centres respectively, but +572 net store openings at retail parks reflecting this incremental demand”.
British Land said it continues to see significant leasing momentum across its retail parks with 629,000 sq ft of deals signed in the half. It also has a further 697,000 sq ft under offer. Occupancy remains high at 99%, “reflecting strong demand and limited supply”.
Key deals in the half included five with Frasers Group totalling 72,000 sq ft, including Sports Direct doubling in size at Teesside Park and Wheatley Retail Park and a new letting to Flannels at Teesside Park. At Glasgow Fort, Primark took 23,000 sq ft of new space and Zara opened its 37,000 sq ft flagship store. At Teesside Park, it’s exchanged on 165,000 sq ft of leasing in the half, including 43,000 sq ft to value retailer B&M, with a further 55,000 sq ft under offer.
Meanwhile, its smaller exposure to shopping centres is also in positive territory, and it’s “continuing to actively manage our shopping centres improving occupancy and driving rents forward”.
It has completed 500,000 sq ft of deals, improving occupancy at 96.8%. Notable recent deals include 124,000 sq ft to Frasers Group in the former Debenhams at Meadowhall and 43,000 sq ft to Inditex (Zara) also at Meadowhall.
Overall, CEO Simon Carter said: “We are pleased with the performance in the first half with underlying profits increasing 3% on the back of another strong period of leasing and good cost control. Rental growth has accelerated, with lettings 12% ahead of ERV, and occupancy remains strong at 96% well above levels in the wider market. We are benefitting from our decision to pursue a value-add strategy across campuses, retail parks and London urban logistics.”