Land Securities issues update on Central London portfolio

Real estate investment trust Land Securities provided an operational and development update on its Central London portfolio on Wednesday.

Landsec said £20.8m of rent had been signed, or was in solicitors' hands, since 1 April, an average of 4% ahead of March 2022's estimated rental value.

Office occupancy was said to be at 95.5%, up slightly from 95.3% on 31 March 2022.

The FTSE 100-listed group also highlighted that it had experienced "continued interest" in its committed developments, amid further leasing progress, with £5.9m of lettings in solicitors' hands 10% ahead of ERV, and four committed development schemes now being 63% pre-let or in solicitors' hands.

Chief executive Mark Allan said: "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."

As of 0815 BST, Landsec shares were down 0.10% at 590.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com