Mark Brumby of Langton Capital commented on the continued challenges faced by landlords and tenants

Earlier this week, Langton Capital reported on the continued challenges faced by landlords and tenants due to disruption caused by the pandemic.

A leading real estate agent has reported that rents in Central London, prime zone A, have fallen by over 17% in the last 12 months. The agent reports “this is largely a reflection of robust domestic spending on eating out as we emerge from lockdown but also has been supported by the relaxation in planning that permits the conversion of retail to F&B use”. Footfall particularly in the West End for Q3 was up over 33% but still down 47% against 2019.

The same agent reports on an online blog that there are “reasons for real optimism among city centre operators”. It adds that late-night businesses have recently performed more strongly saying that the operators have felt the very worse of things during the pandemic but the enthusiasm showed by customers to get back out to late-night bars and clubs is very encouraging as is their willingness to spend at least as freely as they were in pre-Covid times.