General

Britain’s recent descent into a coronavirus ‘second wave’ with the UK government succumbing to scientific and political pressure to enforce another national lockdown in England, will blunt the momentum of any short-term economic recovery.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are locked in a tight race for the White House with early indicators that Trump has once again defied pollsters in his US presidential re-election bid, which this morning remains too close to call.

Turnover rents have been adopted by retail landlords as part of the solution to protect beleaguered retailers and leisure occupiers as they grapple with twin headwinds from the pandemic-induced recession and broader market forces driving structural change.

Major retail and leisure landlords are embracing turnover-based leases for tenants in a tacit acknowledgement that the UK’s leasing framework is not fit for purpose.

Retail landlords are at the frontline of the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic within the real estate sector. Many variables will influence how landlords, and retailers, will fare in the months and quarters ahead.

Retail landlords’ rates of rent collection have emerged as a proxy for solvency status across the broader retail and leisure sectors. Disrupted business activities for those retailers reliant on traditional bricks and mortar footfall is severely denting their ability to make rental payments.