// Landsec still owed around a third of rent due at the end of March – £33m of rent worth that’s outstanding
// Landsec has agreements with companies that owe it £10m which might see it recoup a majority of it
// Only 29% of rent due from the rest of central London had been gathered, compared with 47% a year earlier
Landsec has said it is still owed around a third of rent due at the end of March as central London renters remained especially behind on their bills.
The property giant – which owns a range of retail properties and has interests in various shopping centres and retail parks – said it had £33 million of rent outstanding five days after it was due for the last three-month period.
Landsec said it had agreements with companies that owe it £10 million which might see it recoup a majority of that money.
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In that event the level of collections for the quarterly rent will go from 67 per cent to around 77 per cent, Landsec told shareholders today.
Landsec splits its rent collection into five areas, and measures the proportion of rent collected in the five days after it was due.
The company’s offices, regional retail, urban opportunities and subscale sectors units all collected a larger portion of rent than during the same period last year.
Its “rest of central London” category was the only one with a worse collection rate five days after rent day this March compared with last year.
Only 29 per cent of rent due from the rest of central London had been gathered, compared with 47 per cent a year earlier.
Office rent has been the least impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as companies based in offices were largely able to continue business, albeit with staff working from home.
Landsec said its collections rose from 86 per cent to 87 per cent compared with March last year, but it is still down on March 2019 when collection reached 98 per cent.
Separately, landlord Derwent on Tuesday revealed it had gathered 87 per cent of total rent due in the quarter ending in March.
Landsec’s strong performance was helped by office space, which forms a majority of its rent base.
It collected 91 per cent of office rents but only 24 per cent of retail and hospitality rent.
with PA Wires
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