Coronavirus: Covent Garden landlord cans £100m share buyback plan as shops shut March 26, 2020 Coronavirus has turned Covent Garden into a ghost town and closed restaurants and shops will lead to lost rental cash, according to Capital & Counties (Capco). The owner of Covent Garden said in a Covid-19 update that most of its retail and dining units on its estate were shuttered and therefore it would incur “a [...]
British Land scraps dividend and defers £40m in rent March 26, 2020 British Land has suspended its dividend and will defer £40m in rents this quarter and spread repayment in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The firm is deferring March quarter day rents and spreading repayment over the six quarters from September 2020. The financial impact of this is expected to be £40m. The company added it [...]
Intu sees rent payments dive amid UK coronavirus crisis March 26, 2020 Struggling retail landlord Intu has received less than a third of rent due for its second quarter as retailers struggle to pay the bills amid the UK coronavirus crisis. That forced it to abandon 2020 guidance as its incredibly low shares dropped three per cent to under 4p. The government has ordered almost all shops [...]
Zoopla: Coronavirus could send UK house prices plunging March 26, 2020 UK house prices could plunge dramatically as the coronavirus outbreak causes demand to dry up, Zoopla has warned. The spread of Covid-19 is already having a big effect on the market, causing a 40 per cent drop in demand for housing in the seven days to 22 March, according to data from property website Zoopla. [...]
Coronavirus: Barratt Developments scraps dividend March 25, 2020 Housebuilder Barratt Developments has scrapped its £100m payout to shareholders over the business uncertainty caused by coronavirus. Barratt, which has closed all of its sites, said it expects the coronavirus outbreak to have a “significant impact” on construction output and reservations and has cancelled all previous financial guidance. The company said that due to the [...]
Coronavirus: Bellway scraps dividend and warns of ‘substantial disruption’ March 25, 2020 Bellway has warned of a period of “substantial disruption” during the coronavirus outbreak, as it cancels its interim dividend to preserve its balance sheet. Bellway said the coronavirus outbreak had threatened liquidity across the economy and as such, the board is taking immediate action to preserve the balance sheet. The housebuilder’s interim dividend will be [...]
Persimmon cancels dividend and begins shutdown of sites March 25, 2020 Persimmon is the latest housebuilder to cancel its dividend in an attempt to conserve cash as coronavirus uncertainty hits sales. The housebuilder said the period of uncertainty will lead to a delay in the timing of legal completions, a rise in cancellation rates and a material slowdown in new sales for Persimmon. As such the [...]
Coronavirus to bring UK house prices growth to ‘juddering halt’ March 25, 2020 The coronavirus outbreak is set to bring UK house prices to a “juddering halt” in the coming months, a top economist warned today. UK house prices fell 1.1 per cent between December and January. But they were 1.3 per cent up on the previous year, data released today showed. The Office for National Statistics said [...]
Government under pressure to suspend non-essential construction work March 25, 2020 The government is facing growing pressure to halt non-essential construction work as it tries to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak. In a Downing Street briefing on Tuesday, health secretary Matt Hancock said construction workers could and should continue to work so long as they are two metres apart. “The judgment we have made is that [...]
Construction on 22 Bishopsgate stops due to coronavirus March 24, 2020 Construction workers on the site of upcoming City skyscraper 22 Bishopsgate have downed tools today in response to the latest coronavirus restrictions. Multiplex, the contractor building the new Square Mile high rise, shut all its work sites today, after Boris Johnson implemented an effective three-week lockdown last night. The government said open air construction could [...]