More pressure was piled on some of Britain’s retail landlords on Tuesday. The collapse of Thomas Cook this week means 550 of its UK stroes will close, leaving property owners with vacant space and a sudden fall in rental income.
Of the listed landlords affected, shopping centres owner Intu looks to have the largest exposure. It lets 13 stores to the package holidays giant. Although that only represents 0.4% of Intu’s secured rent, it still marks another headache for the malls firm. Like rivals, it has been hit by a number of retailers closing shops as part of restructures and weaker consumer confidence.
Other landlords hit include NewRiver, LandSec, British Land and Hammerson. They respectively have 9, 5, 5 and 4 Thomas Cook stores. Trade body British Property Federation’s boss Melanie Leech said the closures ‘will put landlords, and the savers and pensioners they represent, under even more pressure in a challenging climate‘.
