The valuations of high street shops and shopping centres could be slashed after property agents were ordered to reflect the havoc sweeping the retail industry.
The Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has taken the rare step of instructing valuers to be “aware of the potential for significant changes in value” in retail properties — and to use the widest possible range of evidence to take account of the seismic shifts in shopping habits.
The alert could have an impact on big listed landlords such as Hammerson, owner of the Bullring in Birmingham, and Intu Properties, owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester, which are trading at far below their book value.
