Hammerson latest landlord to halt rent concessions

In a note to the City the shopping centre giant, which owns centres such as the Birmingham Bullring and London’s Brent Cross, said as Covid-19 restrictions continue to lift it did “not anticipate granting future concessions”, adding “all avenues to collect rents due are being pursued”.

During the pandemic, Hammerson said it had waived £26m in rents during 2020 and a further £15m in 2021 to date. 

The landlord noted that while footfall had been improving and was currently “sitting at between 70%-80% of 2019 levels”, it had only collected 62% of due rents in the year to date. 

Hammerson’s announcement follows hot on the heels of British Land, which issued a similar warning to occupiers earlier this week. 

British Land, which wiped more than £1bn from its share price, due in part to falling rent collections in May, said it planned to take a firmer stance with tenants as the “vast majority” were trading well. 

“With trading restrictions substantially lifted, and the vast majority of our customers trading well and paying the rent due, we do not expect to make further concessions this quarter,” it said. 

Accompanying the announcement, British Land revealed it had received 71% of rents due from retailers for the June quarter. 

In June, the government extended the ban on commercial evictions until next year to give hard-hit occupiers more time to reach agreements with landlords. 

However, the moratorium hasn’t closed all avenues of legal redress to landlords, best illustrated by the summary judgement order bought against The Fragrance Shop by the owner of Westfield London in April. 

Westfield won the case, winning back £150,000 in unpaid and accrued rents, and the ruling has sparked a sharp increase in landlords exploring legal avenues.