Landsec’s Central London Portfolio Sees Higher Occupancy

UNITED KINGDOM – Land Securities Group (Landsec), a major commercial property landlord in London, stated that its Central London portfolio witnessed better office occupancy and higher rent collection, according to a press release published on Wednesday afternoon (21 September, SGT).

At present, the office occupancy of its Central London portfolio stands at 95.5 percent, up from 95.3 percent as of the end of March 2022.

Aside from that, the commercial property landlord revealed that £20.8 million worth of rent have been signed or in the solicitors’ hands since 1 April 2022. On average, this is 4 percent higher than the portfolio’s estimated rental value (ERV) as of March 2022.

Landsec also stated that there’s continued interest in its committed projects. In fact, it has seen further leasing progress with £5.9 million of lettings in solicitors’ hands, and this is 10 percent higher than the estimated rental value.

In addition, the landlord’s four committed development schemes are currently 63 percent pre-let or in solicitors’ hands compared with 56 percent as of May 2022.

“Operational momentum within our Central London portfolio and healthy interest in our committed developments support our confidence in the outlook for the central London office market, even in the face of what is a challenging economic and geopolitical environment,” said Landsec’s CEO Mark Allan.

Landsec announced the latest operational and development update on its Central London portfolio during a tour of its development sites in Southwark.

Notably, the landlord has 4 existing or potential developments in Southwark, namely The Forge, Red Lion Court, Timber Square, and Liberty of Southwark. Collectively, these projects will offer 1 million sq ft of green office space.

“Southwark is an area of London with strong growth potential and will be a great home for the 1 million square foot green office cluster that we’re developing,” added Mark Allan.