Westfield has become the third major shopping centre owner to complain this week of rental income hit by the recent wave of retailer administrations and Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs).

For the first half of the year ending 31 July, Westfield’s UK shopping centres saw like-for-like rental income down by 3.1 per cent. It attributed the decline to a vacancy rate of 8.7 per cent, caused by many businesses shuttering shops, as well as leasing delays and non-renewals brought about by uncertainty around Brexit.

Earlier this week, half-year reports from both Intu and Hammerson revealed similar problems.

However, Westfield did see a 6.4 per cent increase in footfall across its UK shopping centres in the first half of the year, outperforming the wider sector by 0.7 per cent. It also reported sales growth from tenants in May and June, with 7.9 per cent and 7.1 per cent increases respectively.

Parent company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield attributed the sales rise to the opening of its extension at Westfield London and the continued growth of Westfield Stratford City.

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