The retail developer also reported a drop in pretax profits
Land Securities chief executive Robert Noel has said a vote in favour of Brexit at the upcoming EU referendum would be 鈥減ainful鈥� for the property industry.
He added that it would also lead to 鈥渂usiness uncertainty鈥� while negotiations take place on an exit treaty.
鈥淯ncertainty slows decision-making. Over the short term, we anticipate this would drive down occupational demand in our market. In turn, this would lead to falling rental values and a reduction in construction commitments, particularly in London,鈥� he said.
However, Noel said the company was positioned to 鈥渢hrive whatever the outcome鈥� as it reported strong full year results.
The retail developer posted a drop in pretax profit to 拢1.34bn for the year ended 31 March 2016, down from 拢2.4bn last year, which it said was due to valuation increases being unable to match the sharp increases in the previous year.
Land Securities also revealed that it is to cost the firm 拢5.6m to relocate its London head office from the Strand to Cardinal Place in Victoria.
On its development pipeline Land Securities reported that it would continue to keep it plans to extend Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow on hold.
The company placed the controversial 拢390m extension on ice back in July last year due to an 鈥渋ncreased level of risk鈥� from Network Rail鈥檚 delivery of Edinburgh Glasgow improvement programme (EGIP) at the adjacent Queen Street Station.
Land Securities added that while it continued to work on plans to improve the retail, leisure and food offer at the centre though they are unlikely to be at the scale previously envisaged.
The developer said it expected to start on site at the mixed-use Selly Oak scheme in Birmingham in the autumn, but said 鈥渇rustratingly鈥� the planning process had been delayed for its plans to develop 240,000 sq ft of retail park at Worcester Woods.
At its major scheme Nova in Victoria London, Land Securities said it had received planning approval for 196,000 sq ft Nova East
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