Okay. I think I've had the thumbs up from the back, so off we go. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. It feels like it's been a long time since I stood in a room with this many people. Hopefully none of us are gonna regret it. I would say usual batting order, we're not sure what usual looks like these days. Welcome to LondonMetric Property's half-year results, the period ending September 30th.
I'm gonna give you just a quick overview of the key highlights, a few macro themes which we'll come on to then pick up later on in the presentation, together with a highlight on some of the numbers, and I'll try and get out as many of the numbers so that Martin can whiz through his slides. Then I'll come back, give you a review of the property portfolio. Then, coming on to share our thoughts about the outlook for the sector and also our, you know, our chosen sub-sectors. Then we'll open it up to Q&A. We'll start with the room first, and if there's anybody on the line, then we'll take their questions afterwards.
Key highlights, a number of these you will be very aware of. You know, our portfolio continues to benefit from, you know, the macro trends. They're certainly supportive of our conviction calls into logistics and long income assets. We are seeing a favorable demand-supply dynamic, which continues to generate rental growth, and again, I'll come on to talk about that in a moment. Portfolio now up at GBP 3 billion, and again, I'll come on to talk about the revaluation and the various subsector performances later on. Total property return, as you can see there, 10.4%, comfortably ahead of our industry benchmark.
With 74% of, you know, the portfolio now, you know, coming from the logistics market, which you can imagine is obviously the favored subsector. Like income growth, 3%. Again, I'll talk about where that's come from, later. You know, good rent reviews. I mean, I always like to focus on rent reviews. I think that they indicate the underlying health of your asset. You know, they are. You know, at the end of the day, yields are supposed to reflect the security and the reliability of your income, but the rent review is also, you know, give you an indication of what the trajectory of that income's gonna look like, and that is what should be encapsulated in your yields.
The rent review settlements are particularly heartening over this period. Again, we'll break down that, where it's come from, later on in the presentation. Disciplined capital allocation. You know, you can see there year to date, acquisitions, you know, nearly twice as much as disposals. You know, we are coming to the end of our sales process of even non-core assets or coming out of non-core sectors, and that's why you're seeing that the number of acquisitions actually outstripping the disposals that we've made in the period. That is the backdrop to the announcement we made this morning to look to raise GBP 175 million of fresh equity.
That is really to take advantage of a pipeline of opportunities, all of which we have in solicitors' hands and which we hope to execute on over the next three to six weeks. I know it's quite common that people talk about three to six months, but ours is live and very real. That is a pipeline that totals around, you know, GBP 280 million, largely in the logistics sector. Like I said, we're confident of concluding on most of those by Christmas. Financial highlights. Again, these numbers are relatively self-explanatory. You know, the earnings are up 4.5%, GBP 44.2 million. Earnings per share up at just under GBP 0.049 , up 2.5%.
Dividend, we announced another quarterly dividend of GBP 0.022 to give GBP 0.044 for the half year. We would expect another GBP 0.022 for Q3 and then an increase for the final quarterly dividend at the end of the year. Our NTA or NAV is up to GBP 2.134. That's you know an increase of you know 12.1%, courtesy of the GBP 207 million valuation gain that you see there, and it's 18 basis points of yield compression. Again, I'll come on to break that down later, which all in all, dividend and NAV progression gives you the total accounting return of 14.5%.
On that note, I'll pass over to Martin, and then I'll come back to talk you through the property review and our thoughts on the outlook for the sector. Thank you.
Thanks, Andrew. As someone, an investor said on a call yesterday, "You must be raising capital. Martin's wearing a tie." It's very good to be back actually. So as Andrew said, we've delivered both earnings and dividend growth and significant NTA progression. I'm pleased to report that we've delivered net rental income of GBP 63.5 million, an increase of 3.6% over last year, supported by another very strong rent collection performance, with 99.5% of rents during the period having been collected.
Our administrative overhead for the period is broadly consistent at GBP 8.2 million, compared with GBP 8 million last year. As we continue to monitor our operational costs closely, our EPRA cost ratio has reduced by 50 basis points since last year to a low of 13.2%. Our gross to net property cost leakage remains consistently extremely low at 1.3%. Our finance costs are GBP 12 million, an increase of GBP 0.7 million over last year, primarily due to carrying higher average debt balances over the period. Our rental income growth and attention to controlling costs has driven our EPRA profit to GBP 44.2 million or GBP 0.0487 per share. That supports the increase to our dividend for the period to date to GBP 0.044, which is an increase of 4.8% and provides very strong 111% dividend cover.
This profit growth on top of an extremely strong valuation gain in the period of GBP 207.3 million allows us to report an overall profit for the period of GBP 254.1 million. For the same period last year, we reported a profit of GBP 85.1 million. That represents a trebling of our overall profit in the period, you know, compared to last year. Turning to the balance sheet. Portfolio valuation is GBP 2.97 billion. I'll call that GBP 3 billion. An increase of GBP 382 million or 14.8% on the year-end. During the period and post-period end, we invested over GBP 300 million into distribution and long income assets and divested 11 assets ahead of book value in the period.
Post-period end, we'll complete the disposal of the T1 Primark shed at Thrapston to bring our total disposals to nearly GBP 170 million. The main contributory factor to the increase in the value of the portfolio is the valuation uplift of GBP 207 million. The strength of the market driving a yield compression of 18 basis points, which Andrew will analyze a bit more later. As at the period end, we had GBP 76.4 million of cash on the balance sheet and GBP 1.07 billion of debt. The net liability position at the period end is GBP 29.5 million, a major component of that, which, as it always is rent received in advance.
In summary, our EPRA net tangible assets at the period end were almost GBP 1.95 billion or GBP 2.134 per share, a significant increase of 12.1% over the year-end EPRA NTA of GBP 1.903 per share. The increase in NTA in the period, together with the dividend paid, has resulted in a total accounting return of 14.5%. The GBP 1.07 billion of debt on our balance sheet at the period end is a significant increase since the year-end. We've been pretty active in the period, managing our debt structure.
We've completed three new debt facilities in the period, totaling GBP 780 million, comprising a GBP 380 million private debt placement, part of which is a green tranche, which allocates spend to buildings with high sustainability standards, and two revolving credit facilities totaling GBP 400 million, subject to green frameworks with targets for EPC ratings, renewable installations, and BREEAM very good developments. These new facilities replaced existing short-dated facilities and have enabled us to increase our debt maturity from 4.2 years at the year end to 7.2 years and maintain a low average cost of debt of 2.5%. Our loan-to-value at the period end, net of the deferred proceeds from the sale of Primark, is 31%.
That will rise to 35% as we fund our committed deals and the future investment pipeline alongside today's equity raise. Since the period end, we've also entered into a new GBP 150 million unsecured debt facility to increase our short-term headroom and allow us to accelerate that investment pipeline that's been set out today. As this slide shows, the combination of that strong income growth and controlled costs has driven strong debt metrics. The cost of debt remains at an all-time low, and our debt maturity and interest cover ratios are strong. Finally, that loan-to-value of 31%, I think, provides the opportunity for further gearing, you know, on top of this morning's equity raise.
Finally, looking at our contracted income moving forward, our contracted income at the period end h ad grown to GBP 130.5 million. We're forecasting a 15% growth in that number to GBP 150 million as we account for the busy post-period end, which reduces our contracted rent roll in respect of lost income on sales of GBP 4.3 million, but is offset by income on acquisitions which generate incremental rent in the period or annually of GBP 6 million, and then a further GBP 5.7 million will accrue from contracted rent generated from the letting up of our near-term developments, particularly Bedford, and we've announced the final letting at Bedford today.
Investments which we currently have under offer will generate a further GBP 11 million of annual rent roll, and that significant level of growth to GBP 150 million, even though I don't build in very much rent growth, and after deducting interest costs and overhead, will generate distributable earnings in excess of GBP 100 million or in excess of GBP 0.10 per share, and that supports our confidence that we'll continue to be able to progress the dividend from the GBP 0.0865 per share it was last year. On that, back to Andrew.
Good idea.
I thought the Chairman would be quite happy about that.
Thanks, Martin. A deeper dive then into the portfolio. As you can see there, total value at just under GBP 3 billion, characterized by, you know, virtual full occupancy, 99%. 60% of the income benefits from contractual uplifts. As you can see, 72% has EPC ratings of A to C. I'll come on to talk about that later in the presentation. Total property return of 10.4%, capital growth of 7.9%, with not surprisingly a standout performance from our urban logistics portfolio, delivering a total return of 13.4%, followed closely with our regional portfolio, delivering an 11.4% total return.
Our mega and long income benefited again also from yield shift as well as some rental growth and some rent reviews, which we'll touch on in a moment with 8.3% and 8.4% total returns respectively. We did, however, absorb a further valuation decline in our four remaining cinemas. Absent that, the long income total return would have been actually 9.2%. We do need to encourage more of you to get back to the cinema sooner rather than later. Hopefully, we'll recover some of those outward yield shifts as we travel through 2022.
In much the same way that we've actually seen yields on some of the Triple Net Retail come in quite materially over the last six months, you know, as people have realized that not all retailing is actually bad. That's evidenced by the 100 basis point yield shift that we've actually benefited from in our remaining retail parks, which also does include the sale of Kirkstall, which was sold for 18% above, I think, the previous passing the March valuation. Albeit our non-core assets exposure now is down at 3.1%, you know, which is retail parks and offices, down from 4.1% six months ago. Going further into the portfolio breakdown here of the distribution assets.
You know, this sector continues to enjoy excellent demand, supply dynamics, record low vacancies, 1.5%. You know, it's often said in the real estate industry that, you know, you start to see proper rental growth when vacancy drops below 5%. You know, we're at 1.5%, so it's not that surprising that we're capturing some reversions. Interesting, I think there was a CBRE report out yesterday that said office vacancies had hit 9%, which probably explains why that's a more challenged subsector. Demand is benefiting from, you know, growth in e-commerce and also rising onshoring, as more and more occupiers consider, you know, just in case logistics strategies and move away from just in time. Urban logistics remains our strongest conviction call.
The portfolio now exceeding GBP 1.25 billion, 112 assets, you know, net initial yield there of 3.9%, and enjoying strong rent review settlements. I'll come on to talk about that in a bit more detail, you know, 20%. Followed closely in the performance metrics by our regional assets, you know, totaling GBP 570 million today, 12 assets, again, similar yield, slightly longer lease length, and again, you know, strong rental performances. Then our mega-assets, GBP 374 million invested in three mega-assets. Again, a tighter yield, but you benefit from a longer lease and arguably more secure credits, with rent reviews benefiting.
Those are fixed rent reviews that delivered an 8% uplift over a five-yearly period. We're trying to give you a lot more color on the makeup of our Long Income. We split it now effectively into three key subsectors, grocery, Triple Net Retail, trade/DIY. A value of GBP 685 million, 100% let, weighted average unexpired term of 14 years, 49% is located in London and the Southeast, valued at a net initial yield, as you can see, at 5.1%, and delivered a total property return of 8.4%. You know, we expect further yield compression in this sector.
It's benefited over the last six to eight months as more and more investors have woken up to the attractive security and compounding elements that these sort of assets can give you. It's dominated, as I say, by our exposures that you know to the grocery, convenience grocery market, where you see a yield of 4.5%, 16 years with nearly 90% of your rent contracted. I mean, what's there not to like? You know, in a world of very low bond rates and an environment of rising inflation, I mean, you know, why wouldn't you like it?
This is also a sector that we think continues to benefit from, you know, omni-channel, both in terms of how we shop, but also how they use the buildings, and increasingly using them for online fulfillment. Our Triple Net Retail is largely exposed to the essential retailers, the discount retailers, and home. That would be the people like the B&Ms. It would be people like DFS and Dunelm, you know, some terrific businesses that have had a great COVID. I mean, I know I should probably shouldn't say it like that, but, you know, they have really benefited from that. Again, you know, net initial yield there of 6%, 10 years. This subsector has benefited from renewed investor demand for retail parks.
We've seen a 50 basis point compression over the period. That's why this was actually the standout performer within the long income portfolio with a total property return there of 15%. Finally, trade and DIY, it's a market we like. You know, it's a market that's been incredibly COVID resilient and certainly benefiting from the work from home economy. You know, as I've said previously, the more time we spend at home, the more money we seem to want to spend on our homes, and that doesn't show too many signs of abating. Moving onto the investment activity. You know, we've given you these high-level numbers already in the presentation.
GBP 305 million acquisitions year to date, dominated by GBP 256 million invested in the logistics sector. Then an upscaling of the quality of assets that we own within Long Income with GBP 49 million worth of acquisitions in grocery and Triple Net Retail. The disposals were dominated effectively, as Martin has already said, the sale of our Primark distribution, one of our Primark distribution warehouses, but the one in Thrapston as opposed to the one in Islip, for GBP 102 million. Again, the trading out of some triple net income and grocery assets, where we've taken advantage of renewed investor demand to come out of some poorer geographies. We probably won't go into that 'cause we might wanna sell a few more.
That's what would be characterized. That's why we would have made that trade out of poor geographies into stronger areas in the South, London and South East. You can see there 36 million of sales out of the retail park and office portfolio, dominated by the GBP 25 million sale of Kirkstall Retail Park. I'm also pleased to announce that we've actually at long last made the final sale of our residential portfolio, 542 flats later. Please don't ask me how they performed. I would just mention again, just for context, 'cause it is relevant to some of the pipeline opportunities that we're looking at at the moment.
We've actually now sold 11 of the former A&J Mucklow assets for close on GBP 60 million, so that's roughly 15% of the portfolio that we acquired. We continue to make some progress, but you know, that gives us confidence that there is good liquidity in the market, even for what we consider to be non-core assets, and that's something that we will continue to cut through. Portfolio activity, you know, 76 deals generating close to GBP 4 million worth of additional income. 38 lettings, GBP 3 million long weighted average on expired lease terms.
As Martin's already referenced, I'm pleased to announce this morning that we've pre-let now our speculative warehouse unit in Bedford, 355,000 sq ft. We've let it at GBP 8 a foot on a new 25-year lease with inflation-linked rent reviews going forward. To give you some context, I mean, when we bought Bedford and we were doing our underwrites, we would have assumed a GBP 6.25 a foot rent, and we would have been assuming a 15-year lease, maybe with a 10-year break, maybe not. Those that would have been our what we consider to be our conservative underwrite.
The letting today from Mark and his team is welcome news for lots of reasons, not just from a valuation perspective, but also from the fact that it's gonna generate another GBP 2.9 million worth of income from PC. That's great news. What I think is the most interesting slide actually in this whole pack is the rent review charts. I'm going back to my earlier comments about rent reviews underscoring the health of your investments. You know, they've generated another GBP 1 million or GBP 900,000 worth of rent ahead of par, 13% on average ahead of passing. Quite a large gap there between the contractual uplifts and open market.
That could narrow in a period of heightened inflation, you know, as we capture the you know CPI and RPI reviews over the next couple of years. I think our caps are such that, you know, even if CPI and RPI run at 4% or 5% or even maybe a little bit higher, we won't hit the caps for the next couple of years. If we're running at inflation a lot higher than that, then we've got other things to think about. We would expect that gap to narrow a little bit. I mean, well, hopefully it doesn't because it means that the open market settlements were even higher.
The standout in this is the average open market rent reviews that we've achieved on our urban logistics portfolio, 25%, which is bang in line with what I would guide. You know, people ask me about rental growth, and I would say, you know, in mega it's 1%-2%, maybe a bit more now, maybe 1%-2.5%. In regional, I would be round about 3%-5% and in urban, I'm kind of 4%-6%.
What I would just touch on, and again, it's one of the themes, you know, that we have within the business on an operational level is when we look at the settlements, and I don't just mean, you know, six-month period is quite a short period to measure stuff, but if we go back further, we look at the settlements that we've been achieving in Urban Logistics rent reviews and regional rent reviews. The quality locations have generally outperformed our underwrites 'cause we always settle and we go back to see what did we think we were gonna get at on acquisition. It's a very, very good test.
We go back and we look at Valentine's investment acquisition summary and say, "What did we estimate?" You know, there are times when we've gone in at low yields, we've you know held our nose and thought, "Great, let's just go for this one." But the rent reviews have generally come out above our underwrites. Where we've maybe gone a little bit off-piste in locations and been lured in by the attraction of maybe a higher coupon at day one, we've had to work a lot harder. You know, be absolutely honest with you, we had to work a little bit harder than we would have imagined, and they've come in at or maybe even below our underwrite. That 25%, just to I mean, this is to give you an idea of the reviews.
This is just this period. That comment goes for previous periods as well. Do you know what I mean? We've got data now that goes back three years. When I look at that 25% and say, "Well, you know, what were the bookends on this?" Well, the worst performer was 7.5%. We underwrote that one. That was at a small unit up in Bicester. We would have underwritten that. It would have been a 5% cap on the way in. We'd have underwritten that at about a 2% round. We were expecting 10%. We got 7.5%. On the other end, we settled a rent review in Croydon at 88% above previous passing.
Now, I think it's pretty fair to assume that the investment team did not come to me with an expectation that we were gonna get an 88% uplift. 'Cause if they did, they'd probably not still around. That surprise on the upside. That's the sort of things that we're learning about. You know, not all warehouses are gonna deliver the growth that some of the yields imply, which is why we have a much greater geographical focus today. I mean, it's not even a focus, an obsession today. You know, and Valentine can talk to you about investment deals that are being done today at 2%, 3%, and you go, "Wow." If you're gonna double your rent and then grow some, then you can get your head around it. That's what we're seeing.
If my worst settlement is 7.5% up, I mean, you know, it's a first world problem. Moving on to development activity. I touched on the letting at Bedford, which would have dominated that and the direct developments. Again, crystallizes the yield on cost of 7.8%, which, you know, has been terrific. You know, that's the last of five units that we've developed there, and we do truly have a unique development at Bedford. Secondly, we've got a small retail cluster that we're building down in Weymouth. Phase I already been completed, which was a 20-year lease to Aldi. Phase II will be made up of a B&M and Dunelm, Costa and drive-through, and a drive-through McDonald's.
Then phase III will be let to a relatively well-known general merchandise and food retailer. That will generate a yield on cost of around 6.6%. Development commitments, we announced on Monday the acquisition of a 296,000 sq ft warehouse just outside Ipswich, which is within the Felixstowe Freeport area, let to an e-commerce operator. We have under offer another 300,000 sq ft of cold storage facility, which will be a full funding starting in the new year and dripping through. That forms part of our pipeline of opportunities that accompany the planned equity raise. Our urban development portfolio is gathering momentum. You can see there are five schemes that we've now secured.
Predominantly, you know, the focus here would be, you know, inner London, you know, North Circular, give or take, you know, zone two, which is great. Subsequent to that, we have another three schemes under offer in Luton, Marlow, and Enfield, totaling about GBP 31 million, where we're looking at, you know, we're buying obsolete buildings. Okay. We're buying really poor buildings here. Okay. You know, EPC Ds and Es, and in some cases maybe not even rated. We're gonna do some fantastic things with them. That is a good area for us, and we think that will grow going forward. It gives us good entry into fantastic geographies that we couldn't otherwise compete with.
We can't pay 2% in Park Royal. Okay. It doesn't make sense for us. Okay. It might do for other people, but this is a way of getting entry into those phenomenal locations. Okay. As you know, we've teamed up with a Dark Kitchen operator, but also, you know, we're working with the Q-Commerce guys. You know, whether or not it's Getir, whether it's Gorillas, whether or not it's Zapp, those sort of things. You know, there are new businesses that are being invented all of the time, and I think that owning this sort of prime real estate, certainly close to London, is just a one-way street. The environmental focus, you know, our strategy does support a low carbon approach.
We operate a very operationally light portfolio, and our assets, you know, have low carbon intensity. I think that our proactive asset management activity supports our ability to you know to take buildings and like I said, they may be obsolete, they may be quasi-redundant and bring them back. You know, not through demolition, but through refurbishment. That's got to be more effective. I think we are fantastic stewards of these underappreciated and underinvested assets. We have the energy, we have the desire, we have the skill set, and we have the capital to do that.
I think that our proactive engagement with our occupiers, you know, we often refer to them as our customers, you know, allows us to work with them, you know, to, for us all to achieve a reduction in this, in the carbon emissions. Just to give you a flavor of the sort of assets that form part of our urban refurbishment program, portfolio to date, we've got this one in Streatham. You can see it's the picture, that's the before and after. I mean, you know, that is dramatic. That is literally. I mean, as somebody said to me yesterday, "It's amazing what gray paint can do to you." It's a little bit more than that. You know, there were new doors, shutters, windows, and a roof.
Again, you can see there, we acquired that with an EPC D to E at purchase and now we've got a B. The CapEx on this was heavy, but that was more than supported by the fact that we were taking the rents up to GBP 27 a foot. You know, I mean, I'm actually not even sure what we would ERV it before at. Well, you know, it's not as high as GBP 20. So there is a marginal CapEx here has rewarded us handsomely. We end up then owning, you know, some really good assets in Streatham off a cap rate of 4.75% yield on cost, which to date, well, it starts with a three.
I mean, it's just how low? I don't know. You know, we won't be testing it, let's put it that way, in the market. Bicester is a building that we've taken back from a 3PL operator at expiry. Purchased EPC C, we've upgraded it. As you can see there, GBP 5.80 of CapEx a foot to an A. We haven't got a tenant. We're in discussions with four people at the moment, and they have the option of going to A+, which will be net zero carbon. That will cost an extra GBP 2.10, but we would expect that additional CapEx to be reflected in a slightly higher rent. That's the difference between this asset class and others. You know, we see this as accretive CapEx, not necessarily defensive CapEx. You know, as you can see there, you know, this was previously DPD?
DPD previously paying us GBP 6.40 a foot. You know, our ERV on this today is GBP 8, post-refurb. We are getting a return for our CapEx. Like I said, that makes it very different maybe to the office sector or the shopping center sector when it comes to these things. Finally, last slide before we open up for Q&A. I think the macro environment is highly supportive of the right real estate against a backdrop of, you know, low interest rates, changing consumer behavior and, like I said before, rising inflation. COVID has undoubtedly changed an awful lot of things in our lives, how we work, how we integrate with people, how we shop. A number of, you know, legacy habits have been disrupted.
Short-term habits have become increasingly more permanent. We think the polarization across the real estate sectors is continuing. I'm not sure it's increasing, but it's continuing. You know, there's a wide gap between the winners and losers. We think sheds and beds are the standout performers. You know, retail parks are emerging as click and collect grows in popularity, and I like it. By the way, I don't believe all retail parks are great. I think there are. You have to be careful of the size and rental levels together with also the tenant mix. You know, we're much happier being in the DIY discount electrical home sector than we are being in department stores and apparel.
You know, that feels more exposed to disruption for online. Shopping centers will continue to see rental declines well below sustainable levels. I've never met a retailer who says to me, "I'm gonna stop. I'm not negotiating any further 'cause I've got to a sustainable rent." It just doesn't happen. You know, those sort of comments tend to come out of people who own a lot of shopping centers. Then the office outlook remains uncertain and increasingly difficult to predict. I'm not an expert in offices, but you know, but fortunately, we don't have too many.
Overall, we think that we believe market dynamics, you know, continue to support our strategy, and our all-weather portfolio is continuing to generate reliable, repetitive, and a growing income. That's the backdrop of our investment thoughts because that's what we believe is how you grow asset values. Yield shift is great as well, but growing income is even better. That is what will continue to support our covered and progressive dividend, which is, you know, the bedrock to all successful investing. On that note, thank you for your attention and your time this morning. If you do have any questions, then I have a terrific team of people who can answer them for you. Thank you. Some things never change, Chris. Thank you.
Why are we here? I was gonna ask you about inflation linking, but you sort of answered that question. So perhaps a couple of more sort of strategic questions. One was on retail to logistics conversion. That's been on the sort of too difficult pile for most people in most markets for a while. But you know, the gap presumably continues to close. Does it? Interested in your thoughts on that, whether there is an emerging opportunity there, you know, looking at your GBP 27.50 for sheds prompts that question. Then the other question was just on rent growth. Obviously, some fantastic numbers. Normally, trough vacancy equals peak rent growth. I mean, do you think we are at or close to peak rent growth? Does it matter? I mean, maybe it doesn't matter. Again, I'm interested in your thoughts on you know the longevity of rent growth.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Two good questions. Thank you. I'll start. I think, look, the conversion from retail parks into logistics is unbelievably geographically tight. You know, you're virtually talking, you know, North Circular, South Circular, maybe M25 if you're fortunate enough to find a retail park that didn't drink the Kool-Aid during the noughties. You know, I mean, you can take Beckton. You know, I mean, I've used this phrase before, Mark took the rents there to pretty high levels. I won't use that word again. But you know, we're up at GBP 45 a foot and our rents in Beckton and, you know, logistics rents are not gonna be up there, you know, for a while. That's before we talk about cost of conversion and all of that. You know, our GBP 27.50 is in Streatham.
I mean, there's not too many retail parks last time I drove through Streatham. So I think it's just you've got to be unbelievably focused on geography. It does slightly support my thoughts as well on other things, you know, because it's still an expensive conversion. I think there are other areas where you can look at other land. You know, I think the business park sector is interesting. You know, bearing in mind it's pretty unloved by almost everybody. Whether or not, you know-
Life sciences now.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's right. Maybe that's what we should badge the portfolios. But, you know, so some of that could be interesting in, again, now I just maybe move out from North, South Circular out to the M25, where you've got some, you know, redundant offices. I mean, Patrick, you know, very much the godfather of the business park market. You know, if you go back to Aztec West, which I actually did my thesis on in college, you know, it started off as a logistics park, and then it became it was gentrified into a, you know, a business park and, you know, two stories and three stories and whatever. But I think the rents at Aztec are probably the same today as they were when Ray and Patrick were building it. It just didn't move.
You know, we sold a business, we sold a park, a building there recently, you know, which we then inherited through Mucklow. You know, it was a building we didn't like on acquisition and, you know, when we sold it didn't disappoint. I mean, in fact, it excelled. I mean, it truly was terrible. You know, but you could see that going back. You could see Aztec going back from, you know, in some ways. Aztec needs to be stronger than Aztec West. It's, from a logistics, Aztec's not strong enough. You know, you could look at, you know, Reading would be a good location. Southampton wouldn't be bad. Birmingham would be okay.
That's in some ways that would be more interesting, but. It comes back to geography. In terms of rental growth, I mean, I think that, you know, 1.5% vacancy generates rental growth. Does it matter? I don't feel that it matters that much to occupiers at the moment. You know, I do come from a school where affordability became an issue in retail parks back in the noughties. I mean, you know, getting GBP 65 in Leeds on an out-of-town retail park. You know, that suddenly that was a bit squeaky.
I don't feel that we You know, we don't have any examples where I could say to you, "Set a rent review." And the tenant says to us, "We're gonna have to leave," at the moment. I mean, what was interesting, Valentine and I were talking yesterday about an opportunity, and Mark, actually. Three of us were talking about an opportunity in Speke on a warehouse where we've got a building let to a 3PL, an automotive 3PL. And we're getting GBP 5.40, GBP 5.50?
Yeah. GBP 5.50.
We've been offered an opportunity to fund a unit next door, which has been pre-let to Sainsbury's for GBP 7.50.
It's in four years.
Yeah. I mean, phew. I mean, yeah, okay. GBP 7.50 in Speke. Oh, okay. What does Bedford look like by comparison? GBP 7.50 looks okay for Sainsbury's. They're happy. They're signing it. They've signed it.
GBP 7.75, they're signing a similar lease in Preston.
You're saying it's more about affordability being fine.
Affordability is the thing.
And therefore it's-
Mission critical. I mean, if we look at
Yeah.
If we look at what's important to an operator, you know, in retail it might be staff rent. Okay? When you look at who occupies your warehouse, it could be staff, transport, power, then rent. Look, you know, you'll probably notice with our disposal activity when we might feel things are getting a bit choppy, but we feel pretty good. We feel pretty good.
Yeah. I think, you know, for example, the transaction that we got in Ipswich, which we announced at the beginning of the week, that's an RPI-linked review. We also have a five-yearly open market catch-up as well. Now, initially, when I looked at that deal, which we agreed on in May, last May this year, I wasn't, you know, the rent, would we go and get the open market catch-up? I feel more positive about the open market catch-up now than I do probably even the RPI because rents are moving so fast.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Should we see no questions? No more in the room? None on the lines. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your interest, and thank you, Chris, for your questions.