British Land hits new highs
with leasing surge

British Land has announced record highs across 2026, as occupier markets continue to perform at peak strength. Delivering one of the strongest periods in the company’s history, the latest results underline just how active the market remains. Here’s everything you need to know… 

Driving much of that momentum was a sharp uplift in leasing activity across British Land’s portfolio in its full-year results to March 2026, reinforcing confidence in future earnings growth, as occupier demand remained exceptionally resilient.

British Land reported leasing activity across its office and retail portfolio nearing £200 million, including £143 million across campuses and £50 million within retail.

Meanwhile, market data by Cushman & Wakefield indicates that net absorption in London offices is at it's strongest point in two decades, with rental conditions strengthening. The landlord has capitalised on this environment by leveraging it's development pipeline to bring forward schemes aligned with stronger leasing conditions. 

Despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, British Land saw little evidence of occupier demand slowing across its portfolio, with performance persisting well beyond the financial year-end across a broad mix of mid-sized deals.

Reinforcing this, CEO Simon Carter took to LinkedIn this morning to comment: “Q4 accounted for 50% of our leasing, and we've seen no slow down since the end of March, placing a further 230,000 sq ft under offer.”

Outlook remains positive, with occupational returns expected to continue outpacing inflation, as Carter predicts “growth of at least 6%” for the group, before going on to describe current market fundamentals as among the strongest he has seen: “I’m struggling to think of a time when the fundamentals of our markets were quite as strong as they are today.”

Naturally, the cost of capital is unpredictable, however, British Land is sustaining focus on disciplined investment decisions.

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