British Land sells seven food stores

The landlord’s share of the properties is £62m, and they were sold at net initial yields of between 4.95 per cent and 5.7 per cent, in line with March valuations.

The sales includes Co-Operative stores in Barton and Cleethorpes, which were bought by consumer co-operative Lincolnshire Corn Exchange & Markets Ltd for £2.9m, representing a net initial yield of 5.4 per cent.

Charles Maudsley, head of retail for British Land, said: “On the back of good demand in the food store sector, we have sold over £100m of food store investments featuring a variety of ages, rent levels and lease expiries.

“The sales were in line with, or above, our March valuations, reflecting the income security and growth prospects for the various stores. This is very much in line with our stated strategy of capital recycling to maximise our portfolio returns.”

Beyond the retailers themselves, British Land is the largest owner of food stores with £2.5bn of foodstores under management, of which its share is £1.3bn.