According to the REIT, rents for central London office space have increased for the last three quarters.
Off the back of this, British Land’s net asset value per share has risen by 12.5 per cent to 567 pence.
Chris Grigg, Chief Executive of British Land, said: “We are invested in the right sectors – that is high-quality retail and central London offices.
“We see signs now of rising rents in both of our sectors. That’s both important, a change, and somewhat different from what many others in the industry are seeing.”
The company also reported a 2.8 per cent rise in underlying profit to £256 million.
Chris Gibson-Smith, Chairman of British Land, said: “At British Land, we are facing the future with confidence. Our office portfolio comprises modern, flexible buildings that meet evolving occupier needs and we own some of the best retail assets in the UK, where consumers want to shop, and retailers trade efficiently and profitably.”
He added that despite the climate of austerity in the UK, consumers “are still shopping” and that the company has been “well served by the quality, location and sustainability of its portfolio”.
However, despite British Land’s encouraging performance over the year, several brokers have changed their recommendations from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ on the REIT.
Meanwhile, rival REIT Derwent London has released its Interim Management Statement for the first quarter of this year, in which it reported an increase in portfolio opportunities and strong performance of its London properties.
John Burns, Chief Executive Officer of Derwent London, said: “The central London office market continues to perform strongly. We have made excellent progress on lettings, especially at the Angel Building, and we are advancing projects in the development pipeline.
Editor’s notes: In 2022, office space rental values in London’s West End reached £130 per square foot, reflecting a 10.6 per cent increase over the course of the year.
In 2022, prime office rents remained stable at £72.50; however, there were increases in City submarkets, including Clerkenwell, City Northern, and City Western.
Prime office rents also remained stable in East London at £44 per square foot per year.
The cited reason for the increases in rental values across Central London was the relative shortage of high-quality space coupled with increased demand for best-in-class office space that meets ESG aspirations.
In 2023, British Land reported underlying profits of £264 million, representing a 6.8 per cent increase on the previous year’s figure of £247 million.
On June 21st 2023, British Land’s share price stood at 327 pence.
As well as leased office space and other forms of commercial property, British Land offers a range of flexible workspace solutions through its flex space brand Storey, which includes plug-and-play serviced offices, desk spaces in coworking offices and hireable meeting rooms.
In July 2026, British Land reported a strong start to the financial year with 567,000 square feet of completed leases and advised that high demand had outstripped supply across its campuses and retail parks.
The REIT advised that deals in the first quarter generated rents 4.8 per cent ahead of estimated rental value (ERV) and that the high occupancy levels and rental growth supported its FY27 guidance for underlying earnings per share (EPS) of at least 30.5 pence, with net rental growth expected at the top end of its 3 per cent to 5 per cent target range.
In June 2026, the Financial Times reported that prime office rents in the City of London had risen to £130.80 per square foot at the beginning of 2026 and £165 per square foot for prime West End office space, due to a continued flight to quality by occupiers.
On September 3rd 2026, British Land Company PLC’s share price stood at 409.80 pence.