The Crown Estate is expected to deliver less money to the Treasury this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic as many of its high street tenants struggled to pay their rent.
The estate, which owns huge tracts of property across the UK – including retail property – said that net revenue profit had fallen by 21.9 per cent to £269.3 million, with the decline largely as a result of the rent is has failed to collect.
Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad said that the pandemic has ‘thrown into sharp relief’ that challenge and uncertainty are the new normal and that there is ‘no doubt we will face another difficult year ahead’, but that there ‘is reason to be cautiously optimistic.’
He said: “Whilst the challenges posed by the pandemic and associated economic impacts are clear to see in our results, drawing on a diverse portfolio we have continued to demonstrate both our strength and resilience, contributing £3 billion to the public purse over the last 10 years and building a portfolio valued at over £14 billion.
“Looking ahead, we know that the same things that have underpinned our past success are not the same things that will secure a sustainable future. Informed by our purpose to create lasting and shared prosperity for the nation, we have set out an ambitious new strategy designed to set us – and our customers – on a path to long-term growth in the broadest sense. This will see us continue our commercial success while using our impact to create a more sustainable and inclusive society.”
