British Land collected £96m of rent payments in September, equating to 69% of the total due.
Of this, £51m was from its offices (91% of total due) and £45m from retailers (50%).
The REIT said its rent collection for the June quarter had also improved to total £136m (74%).
BL added that this improvement in rent collection was “encouraging” and having been “reassured by the improving operational performance” of its assets it has decided to restart paying a dividend. The dividend will be paid semi-annually, instead of quarterly, at 80% of underlying earnings per share.
All of BL’s malls and 86% of stores are now open, with like-for-like retail sales at 90% of last year’s level. Footfall in September was at 84% compared to last year.
BL said its out-of-town retail parks, which make up 48% of its portfolio, had played a key role and had outperformed, driven by click and collect and return services for online purchases and shoppers preferring to visit open-air locations accessible by car.
For September, footfall at its retail parks was 89% and like-for-like sales for open stores were 93% compared to last year.
However, BL has seen an increase in CVAs and administrations across its retail tenants, with 16 occupiers under agreed terms on CVAs or administration.
This has resulted in an £11.6m reduction in BL’s yearly rents, with 13 units closed, 62 on reduced rents and five unaffected.
Between 1 April and 31 August, retail leases signed for periods greater than one year covered 132,000 sq ft and were on average 11% below previous passing rent and 9% below ERV, the firm reported.
BL’s London offices have been open throughout the past six months, but physical occupancy only reached 18% of pre-Covid levels in mid-September, while 65% of the retail and food and beverage outlets at its London campuses have reopened.
In its London development pipeline, BL said it had reached practical completion of 100 Liverpool Street at its Broadgate Campus in the City, while its new scheme at Canada Water will be subject to an oral heading in late October following the High Court refusing permission for a judicial review in August.
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