The British Property Federation has criticised the government for scrapping proposed new legislation that would have tightened the rules on pre-pack administrations

Forth Ports has sold the 420,000-sq ft Ocean Terminal shopping centre, on Edinburgh’s waterfront, to Resolution Property

CSC has cemented its ties with Peel after the acquisition of the Trafford Centre, buying sites in Glasgow and Malaga

Land Securities' chief executive Francis Salway is to step down in March, to be replaced by Robert Noel

Preliminary analysis suggests that direct investment in retail real estate for 2011 is likely to exceed €28bn, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, representing a significant increase on 2009 and 2010 total volumes of €12.3bn and €20.7bn respectively.

DTZ, part of UGL Services, has advised the City and County of Swansea and the Welsh Government on the purchase of St David’s shopping centre in the city from Threadneedle.

Legal & General Property sold Brighton Retail Park in East Sussex to a client of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership for £17.75m , representing a net initial yield of 5.08 per cent

Retail property is in for major changes during 2012, according to new research from Jones Lang LaSalle

Grange and Pyramids sold by Lloyds Banking Group at higher than 10 per cent yield

Shopping centre investment turnover slowed in the final quarter of 2011, according to Cushman & Wakefield

Knight Frank reports increased shopping centre investment turnover in 2011

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers has sold Ascent Park to Standard Life Investments for £9.97m, representing an average yield of 6.2 per cent

Lend Lease sells Essex mall to Legal & General Property’s UK Property Income Fund

Parent company enters pre-pack administration to drive deal through

Metric Income Plus Limited Partnership in Carpetright sale-and-leaseback

£24.5m deal for 71,371-sq ft park shows 6.16 per cent initial yield

Part-sale deal collapses as investment partner fails to raise finance

Capital Shopping Centres buys remaining 25 per cent of Broadmarsh Centre, Nottingham

Metric Property Investments has created a £150m joint venture with Universities Superannuation Scheme to buy small, higher yielding,retail parks

NewRiver Retail has bought the Newland shopping centre in Witham, Essex and a shop unit in Burgess Hill, Sussex

Jones Lang LaSalle reports European retail real estate investment on target to reach € in 2011, up 35 per cent on 2010

Westfield Croydon to become third major London scheme

Land Securities saw an improved performance from its retail portfolio in the six months ended 30 September 2011

Hammerson saw declines in footfall and sales during the three months to 30 September 2011

DTZ has selected Australian FM company UGL as preferred bidder for the company

Freeport has announced the completion of its successful refinancing with new investment provided by a Middle East sovereign wealth fund.  

Helical Bar has bought Corby town centre from Land Securities in a £70m deal, reflecting an initial yield of 8 per cent

Following the collapse of sale talks with Saint George Participations and BNP paroibas, DTZ has invited new offers for the business

BNP-backed bidder pulls out of takeover talks

Henderson research forecasts prime centres will outperform at least up to the end of 2014

Network Rail has bought the 83,000-sq ft Victoria Place shopping centre at Victoria station in London from William Ewart for £91.8m

Helical Retail has bought a 13-acre site at Reddings Lane in Tyseley, Birmingham. It plans to develop a 71,600-sq ft Asda supermarket and 70,000-sq ft retail park

Metric Property Investments has acquired Pierpoint retail park, King’s Lynn from Black Pearl Investments. The purchase price is £15.1m (net of acquisition costs), reflecting a net initial yield of 6.3 per cent.

Retail property organisation BCSC and top retail developers have asked Government to introduce a developer-led Tax Increment Financing Model (TIF) that would allow the private sector to lead economic growth, and potentially unlock up to 50m sq ft of stalled retail schemes in the UK.

The Mall Fund has disposed of two more properties in Barnsley and Middlesbrough

Thamesgate Shopping Centre, Gravesend; Waterborne Walk, Leighton Buzzard and Wellington Way, Waterlooville placed in receivership

Tourists seeking out designer bargains drove a lift in retail performance at McArthurGlen’s seven UK Designer Outlets in July as total sales increased by +6.5 per cent year-on-year.

The West End saw 9.6 per cent uplift in sales over August Bank Holiday weekend.

Capital & Regional unveiled a strong set of results for the first half of 2011, with asset values and profits up. But it announced plans to exit its X-Leisure fund to concentrate on the Mall and Junction funds

The Grosvenor Liverpool Fund has purchased 52-78 Lord Street in Liverpool City Centre from Land Securities.

NewRiver Retail has completed a series of deals to take its portfolio to £250m under management

Following recommendations outlined by the BRC in a letter sent to David Cameron before he addressed the House of Commons yesterday, the Government has acknowledged the impact of the rioting on the retail sector and has put measures in place to support its recovery.

Capital & Regional’s Junction Fund has soldSouthAylesfordRetailPark,Maidstoneto The Crown Estate for £70.6m

Axa Real Estate Investment Managers , on behalf of Friends Life, has sold the Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Macclesfield to Eskmuir Securities for £20.86m

Land Securities has bought a leisure and restaurant complex in Bath from Aprirose in an off-market transaction for £20m. The investment offers a 6.3% per cent net initial yield with a reversionary yield of 6.9 per cent

Capital Shopping Centres reports growth despite challenging retail environment

LaSalle Investment Management has completed a long leasehold acquisition of the Artizan shopping centre in Dumbarton, near Glasgow,  for £4.85m.

Direct investment in retail real estate in Europe during the second quarter of 2011 reached €4.9bn, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Total investment volumes for the year to date now stand at €13.6bn, 34 per cent up over the same period last year.

A large number of UK shopping centres have come onto the market with over 20 schemes being openly marketed at present, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Metric Property Investments has announced its interim management statement for the period from 1 April 2011 to 6 July 2011.

Metric Property Investments has conditionally exchanged, pending a revised planning approval, on the acquisition of a redevelopment site in Cannock for a total investment of £5.8m.

Orchard Street Investment Management acquires Salisbury shopping centre

Morrison Plc has appointed Cushman & Wakefield to advise its asset management team on optimising value on a select number of retail assets within their growing property investment portfolio.

£68m deal for four food-anchored shopping centres

Morfa Shopping Park in Swansea sold for £80m

According to Savills 19 shopping centres are currently under offer equating to £630m with a further 24, worth £1.2bn, on the market.

Invista Real Estate Investment Management has bought Dundee's Wellgate Shopping Centre for £31.2 million.

Now could be the time to sell retail warehouses, says Savills

Terrace Hill buys foodstore sites in Prestwich, Manchester and Herne Bay, Kent worth £60m

NewRiver Retail made pre-tax profits of £4.9m in the year to 31 March 2011

UK Commercial Property Trust managed by Ignis, has bought the Rotunda leisure scheme in Kingston upon Thames from Curo Property Funds for £50.7m, reflecting an initial yield of 6.47 per cent.

The UK shopping centre investment market had a strong start to the year according to Cushman & Wakefield

DTZ has successfully sold Dunleavy Drive retail and leisure scheme in Cardiff Bay on behalf of Swansea based property company, Compton Group.

The European commercial real estate investment market continues to recover, driven by an increase in demand for prime retail property assets, according to the latest CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) European Capital Markets report.

Capital & Counties Properties has exchanged contracts for the acquisition of five freehold properties in Covent Garden, London, from Derwent London for £68m.

Property consultant in talks with a number of suitors

Henderson Global Investors, on behalf of its £1.1bn UK Retail Warehouse Fund, has bought Phase 1 of the Ashford Retail Park in Kent for £14.25m, representing an equivalent yield of 5.4 per cent

BCSC is calling for greater transparency and consistency in shopping centre investment advice in order to boost confidence in the sector as a long-term, sustainable investment class.

Redevco has bought a block of prime multi-let retail properties at 56-76 Commercial Road, Bournemouth from a private Irish investor for £31m

AIM-listed Redefine International buys Harrow mall from Corovest for £68m

Hammerson has sold the Three Spires Shopping Centre in Lichfield to Orchard Street Investment Management weeks after buying it from S Martins.

European retail investment reached its highest level since the beginning of 2008, reports CBRE

Shopping centre investment enjoyed its strongest quarter since 2007, according to DTZ

Capital & Regional founder Martin Barber returns to the shopping centre business in a £500m venture with Lathe Investments

Brockton Capital and Milligan have bought the Mailbox in Birmingham city centre for £127.1m

Standard Life Investments’ UK Property Fund has bought the Gateway shopping park in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, from Parkridge for £20.675m

Savills predicts that over £120bn of property stock will have to be refinanced by 2012, leading to a rise in forced sales

Hammerson has exchanged contracts to buy a portfolio of six retail properties from St Martins Property Investments Limited for £208m.

Strong recovery in pre-tax profits after prolonged downturn.

British Land has bought the Mayflower Retail Park in  Basildon for £51m

The latest Property Snapshot from Colliers International points to deteriorating conditions in both the investment and occupational markets

Legal & General Property’s leisure fund has agreed to forward fund the Westgate leisure development in Aldershot with Citygrove Securities and Rushmoor Borough Council for £51m

Invesco Real Estate sells Apsley Mills retail park to The Crown Estate for £35m

The Crown Estate has bought the Ocean Retail Park in Portsmouth from capital & Regional and Aviva's Junction Fund for £61m, reflecting a net initialy yield of 5.8 per cent

Henderson Global Investors has acquired Christ’s Lane, a prime high street asset in Cambridge, from Land Securities, for £33.16m, reflecting a 5.25 per cent net initial yield

Aldersgate Investment Limited, the multi-billion pound property investments company, has purchased a further 50 per cent share in Eden shopping centre, High Wycombe, giving it 100 per cent ownership.

Hammerson has unveiled pre-tax profits up £15m to £145m in the year to 31 December 2010.

Metric Property Investments has bought a standalone Bhs store in Kirkstall, Leeds for £12m

British Land has bought the Green Lanes shopping centre in Barnstaple for £30m at a net initial yield of over 8 per cent

UK Commercial Property Trust has bought the St George’s retail park, Leicester, from a fund managed by JP Morgan Asset Management for £49.9m

Capital & Regional has bought the Waterside shopping centre in Lincoln, its first property acquisition since 2009

Sovereign Land and Area Property Partners have acquired Ayr Central shopping centre from Henry Boot for £33.8m. The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 6.25 per cent.

After signalling its return to the sector before Christmas, Helical Bar has bought the Sutton-in-Ashfield Shopping Centre

Turnover increased 72 per cent from 2009 to 2010, and more deals are forecast for 2011

Capital Shopping Centre shareholders approve Trafford Centre purchase

REALM has announced it will invest £2m in the remodeling of Freeport Talke Outlet Centre, near Stoke-On-Trent, including the launch of a Nike Outlet.

Metric Property Investments has bought the PC World store in Hove for £8m

The first quarter of the year is traditionally the toughest time for retailers, and corporate failures tend to be at their highest during the period. So what are the prospects for 2011?

British Land and Tesco have refinanced BLT Properties, one of their joint venture companies

HSBC European Active Real Estate Trust has bought The Galleries in Bristol from The Mall Fund for £50.2m.

Metric Property Investments has announced the exchange of its acquisition of Channons Hill Retail Park, Bristol for £6.25 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 9.3 per cent.

Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council Pension Fund complete £17m retail park purchase

Jones Lang LaSalle research finds UK is the hottest retail investment market in Europe

Simon Property Group has announced that it will not now make a formal bid for Capital Shopping Centres

CSC insists Simon Property Group's indicative offer 'substantially undervalues' the company.

Legal & General Property's UK Property Income Fund has bought Fremlin Walk Shopping Centre, Maidstone, from Europa Capital and Scoop Asset Management for £92m.

British Land has bought the 425,000-sq ft Drake Circus in Plymouth to show a 6 per cent yield

Henderson Global Investors has acquired a further 12.5 per cent stake in the 300,000-sq ft Birmingham Fort Shopping Park tasking its holding to 50 per cent

Orchard Street Investment Management has bought the St David’s Retail Park, Bangor for £14m reflecting an initial yield of 7 per cent

The Grosvenor Liverpool Fund has secured £385m refinancing for its 1.6m sq ft Liverpool One mixed-use scheme

Mall fund continues disposal programme with sale of The Galleries in Bristol

Helical Bar has paid £17.75m to buy The Guineas centre out of administration

DTZ forecasts REITs will continue to buy retail parks in 2011

Simon Property Group secures £3bn loan to back offer for Capital Shopping Centres

Henderson Global Investors, on behalf of the Henderson UK Property Fund, has bought the 600,000-sq ft Silver Hill scheme from the administrators of Thornfield

LaSalle Investment Management has acquired the Arena Shopping Park in Haringey. The purchase price of £53m gives a 5.34 per cenyt net initial yield

Bluewater and Touchwood owner sees lifespan extended for seven years

Land Securities has bought Overgate shopping centre in Dundee from the Lend Lease Overgate Partnership for £141m, representing a yield of close to 6.9 per cent

Delancey has bought the Blade portfolio from Propinvest Group for an undisclosed sum, partnering with existing lender Royal Bank of Scotland on the acquisition. The portfolio comprises 12 assets spread across the retail, leisure, office and warehouse sectors.

Out-of-town capital values rise 23 per cent in a year

£3bn offer condemned as undervaluing portfolio

425p per share offer shows 26 per cent premium to November share price

US retail property giant raised the stakes in its row with Capital Shopping Centres over the £1.6bn purchase of the Trafford Centre

Metric Property Investments has bought the Havens Head Retail Park in Milford Haven from Land Securities for £14.4m, reflecting net initial yield of 6.8 per cent.

Dutch property giant Wereldehave has rturned to the UK market with the £85m purchase of the Dolphin Shopping Centre in Poole. The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 6 per cent.

Simon Property Group has turned up the pressure on CSC, urging fellow shareholders to vote down its purchase of The Trafford Centre. And it has again said it is prepared to bid for the company

Capital Shopping Centres has responded to Simon Property Group's attack on its Trafford Centre purchase

Hammerson has bought the Wrekin Retail Park in Telford, for £42m from Legal & General Property

US-based Pramerica Real Estate Investors has formed a joint venture with the Local Shopping REIT to invest in retail parades and precincts throughout the UK

Capital Shopping Centres confirms bid approach from Simon Property Group

Capital Shopping Centres has confirmed that it is to buy the Trafford Centre, Manchester, in a deal valuing the mall at £1.6bn.

Dutch and Canadian institutions both take 25 per cent stakes in East London megamall

Metric Property Investments has bought the Alban Retail Park, Bedford from Parkridgefor £9.2m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.3 per cent

Metric Property Investments has bought the Wick Retail Park in North East Scotland for £10.3m, reflecting an initial yield of 6.5 per cent

The Co-operative Bank has provided a loan of £36m to refinance the Ladysmith shopping centre in Greater Manchester.

Land Securities unveiled a strong set of financial results for the six months to 30 September with pre-tax profits of £455.3m against a loss of £4.6m six months previously.

Capital & Regional has reported approved performance across its retail funds, and it is once again looking to invest

F&C REIT has bought three retail warehouses units in Birmingham and Burton upon Trent for £13.63m

Despite slow sales through the summer a higher number of centres are now on the market

Oak Retail Park, Dudley, sold to First Property Group for £5.9m

Meyer Bergman and Thor Equities have bought the UK's oldest mall, Burlington Arcade, for £104m

Henderson Global Investors has sold two retail parks and bought a trade park as it actively manages its retail portfolio

Direct investment in retail real estate in Europe during the first three quarters of 2010 rose by 90 per cent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle

Henderson Global Investors has bought a 44,000-sq ft mixed use site in Buchanan Street, Glasgow or £36.4m

The Metro Shopping Fund, the 50/50 London based retail joint venture between Land Securities and Delancey, has sold its Notting Hill Gate Estate for around £131m to William Pears and LaSalle Investment Management.

Moorfield Group has bought the Post Office building on Crown Street, Darlington to allow an extension to its Cornmill shiopping centre.

Metric Property Investments has bought the Congleton Retail Park in South Manchester from North West based investor and developer, Bluemantle, for £14.86m

Salmon Harvester Properties, the joint venture between Salmon Developments and NFU Mutual, has secured forward funding for its 165,000-sq ft retail and leisure scheme in Leigh, Lancashire.

The Crown Estate has bought two retail parks in Liverpool and Nottingham for a combined £150m.

Hermes Real Estate is to sell its 7.5 per cent interest in Bluewater with a £120m price tag

Fidelity’s UK Real Estate Fund has acquired the Hamilton Palace Retail Park for £17.4m

Grosvenor Management Fund have instructed CB Richard Ellis to sell the 530,000 sq ft Dolphin shopping centre in Poole for around £80m.

Savills has been appointed to sell Halton Lea Shopping Centre in Runcorn on behalf of the recievers.

Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal is to be extended after the Scottish Government cleared the way for the UK’s first TIF scheme

Metric Property Investments has bought the Nottingham Road Retail Park in Mansfield from private clients of CBRE Investors for £7.25m

ING has bought Phase 3 of the Clifton Moor Retail Park in York from Scottish Widows for £37.66m, representing a net initial yield of 5.59 per cent

Aberdeen sells the Junction One Retail Park for £37.85m, yielding 6.49%

Metric Property Investments has bought Airport Retail Park in Coventry from Citi Property Investors for £18m

Invista Real Estate Investment Management has bought the Nottingham Road retail park in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire from Morbaine for £8.26m. The sale price represents a net initial yield of 6.25 per cent.

Henderson Global Investors, on behalf of the £1bn Henderson Retail Warehouse Fund, has completed the sale of a further 25 per cent stake in the Brewery in Romford to Prupim, on behalf of its M&G Pooled Pension Property Fund, for £44.5 million.

Metric Property Investments has bought the Gorse Covert shopping centre in Loughborough for £16.8m, reflecting a 6 per cent equivalent yield.

Land Securities has exchanged contracts for the sale of the Stratford shopping centre in East London to the Catalyst European Property Fund for £91.55m. The price represents a net initial yield to the purchaser of 7.25 per cent

On behalf of the St James’s Place Property Unit Trust, Invista Real Estate Investment Management has acquired Westhill Shopping Centre, Aberdeen, from Gladedale Capital for £9.25m, representing a net initial yield of 7.2 per cent

PRUPIM has sold the Bridgend Retail Park in South Wales to the BA Pension Fund for £18.85m. The sale reflects a net initial yield of 6.6 per cent.

LaSalle Investment Management has completed a major refurbishment which has transformed the Lion Walk shopping centre in Colchester

Yields for prime assets improved to 5.5 per cent over the second quarter of 2010, reflecting the fact that shopping centre stock has been relatively limited. Yields for smaller and more secondary assets have remained relatively static with vacancy rates and falling rents continuing to suppress values.

Stephen Springham, head of retail research at King Sturge, reports that the shopping centre market has seen significantly higher volumes of transactions due to the hardening of pricing, which, in turn, has allowed a number of investors to exit with a profit. However, the activity has primarily been confined to the prime/good secondary end of the market.

Three shopping centres owned by the Reuben Brothers and Lloyds Banking Group have gone into administration.

Two subsidiaries of Modus Properties, the owner of the Grand Arcade shopping centre in Wigan that was placed in administration last year, have successfully negotiated CVAs with their creditors, clearing the way for the sale of the centre.

Henderson Global Investors has paid £5.7 m for a retail warehouse unit in Berry Lane, Halifax, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.65 per cent.

Capital Shopping Centres, recently demerged from Liberty International, saw a strong rebound in property valuations during the first half of 2010

Metric Property Investments has made its second acquisition since floating in March this year, buying the Launceston Retail Park in Cornwall for £13.5m, reflecting an initial yield of 5.86 per cent.

Property veterans Raymond Mould and Patrick Vaughan, founders of Arlington Securities and Pillar Property, are returning to the London Stock Exchange as their new vehicle London & Stamford Property converts to REIT status.

The Henderson Retail Warehouse Fund has sold a 25 per cent stake in the Brewery in Romford to Prupim for £44.25m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.06 per cent.

Prime yields on shopping centre investments fell in the second quarter of 2010, as investment demand exceeding supply, according to Cushman & Wakefield

The first of 2010 saw more shopping centre investment deals than the whole of 2009, according to Knight Frank

Evidence of a slowdown in the recovery of retail property markets is becoming increasingly apparent. According to IPD’s Monthly Market Segments, capital value growth across all retail property segments in May was just 0.52 per cent, the lowest rate of monthly growth since August 2009.

North London retail and leisure centre sold to German investors

Recently-floated developer LXB Retail goes back to market for £40m more to fund more deals

Mayfair Capital Investment Management’s Property Income Trust for Charities has bought the Debenhams’ Department Store in Southport for £8.3m.

Investment in UK retail property reached £3.7bn in the first six months of 2010, according to CBRE

LXB Retail announces has bought two further retail sites in Greenwich from Schroder Exempt Property Unit Trust for £21.24m.

Hammerson has bought out and Brookfield Europe's stake in the £4.5bn Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration project in North London

The Mall Fund has continued its disposals programme with the sale of centres in Gloucester, Southampton, Romford and Falkirk to Rockspring for £136m.

Shopping centres are predicted to be the worst-performing property sub-sector for the next two years according to Colliers' authoritative Midsummer Retail Report.

Legal & General Property has acquired two retail/leisure schemes with development potential in Hounslow and Trowbridge for £43m

Hammerson has bought the remaining 75 per cent stake in the 140,000-sq ft Battery Retail Park in Birmingham from TIAA-CREF for £49.5m.

Land Securities has pre-sold its Park Place mixed-use development on London's Oxford Street to Barwa Real Estate for £250m

Metric Property Investments, the recently-floated specialist retail REIT, has made its its first acquisition with the £28.4m purchase of Damolly Retail Park, Newry, Northern.

Meyer Bergman has bought The Exchange Shopping Centre, Ilford, from the Mall Fund for around £71m, representing a net initial yield in excess of 8.2 per cent.

According to new research from Savills, retail warehousing delivered a 20 per cent total return in the year to February 2010. This is a dramatic turnaround from a total annual return of minus 28 per cent just 10 months previously.

PGGM, a leading Dutch pension fund and asset manager, has invested around €75m in Standard Life Investments UK Shopping Centre Trust.

NewRiver Retail has bought a portfolio of six long leasehold sites from Redevco for £19.01m, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.75 per cent.

A pension fund client of Colliers Capital has bought a 51,530-sq ft Morrisons store on the Castleton Retail Park in Dover for £17.26m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5 per cent.

DTZ Investment Management has purchased the mixed-use Cobalt portfolio from Wellcome Trust for £93.5m. The price reflects a net yield of 6.1 per cent.

In one of the UK's first car park investment deals Bouwfonds European Real Estate Parking Fund is to forward purchase Merepark and Ballymore's multi-storey car park at their Central Village mixed-use development in Liverpool.

CACI's annual ranking of the UK’s top retail destinations underlines strength in Glasgow, Liverpool and Newcastle but more difficult times for Leeds and Birmingham.

Columbus UK Real Estate Fund and Chester Properties Investment Partnership have formed a new joint venture to acquire The Brandon Shopping Centre in Motherwell.

Capital & Regional, manager of the Mall, Junction and X-Leisure funds, is continuing to sell properties according to its latest interim management statement.

An improving retail backdrop is leading Land Securities to dust off mothballed retail developments.

The latest IPD figures show the market is still moving forward, but at a slower rate.

The rebound in commercial property valuations helped stem losses at British Land in the year to 31 March 2010, and the company is cautiously optimistic about the retail sector for this year.

NewRiver Retail Investments, the co-investment joint venture between NewRiver Capital and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, has completed the acquisition of Albert Square Shopping Centre in Widnes.

Invista Real Estate Investment Management has announced a commitment to the forward funding of a retail warehouse development in Guildford. The site is being developed by Travis Perkins (Properties) Limited (TPP) on behalf of Travis Perkins Plc (TP) and has been pre-let to a TP group company – Wickes Building Supplies Limited – for 25 years.

Invista Real Estate Investment Management has agreed to forward fund a retail warehouse development in Guildford, which Travis Perkins is developing with a new Wickes store.

Rockspring has bought the St Tydfil Square Shopping Centre in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, for £24m. The sale price reflects a yield of more than 9.25 per cent.

As it prepares for its demerger from Liberty International, Capital Shopping Centres has reported strong performance in the first quarter of 2010.

Land Securities has today has bought a 50 per cent stake in the Westgate Centre, Oxford from The Crown Estate for just over £28m representing a yield of 6.75 per cent. The property will be jointly held in a new limited partnership.

Shopping centre investor London & Associated Properties reported an improved set of results for the year to 31 December 2009.

Hammerson has reported an improving picture at its UK malls in a management update for the first quarter of 2010.

SpaceandPeople has announced today it will acquire Retail Profile, the UK's leading provider of Retail Merchandising Units (RMUs) for £6.3m, subject to shareholder approval.

Insolvency rates in the UK rose between February and March this year but overall figures are down compared to 2009, according to Experian.

The Junction, Capital & Regional's retail park fund, has continued its disposals programme with the sale of the 200,000-sq ft Cambridge Close Retail Park in Aylesbury.

Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust has bought a 41,280-sq ft retail warehouse in Bury, Greater Manchester for £5.3m.

Metric Property Investments, a specialist retail property investor formed by three ex-British Land directors, has raised £190m by becoming the first REIT to float on the London Stock Exchange since the crash.

Demand for shopping centre investments is forecast to continue improving, with UK funds leading the way, forecasts Knight Frank.

Land Securities has completed the off market purchase of The O2 Centre, Finchley Road, London NW3 from the Matterhorn Palos Partnership, for £125.9m representing a yield of 6 per cent.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council exchanged contracts yesterday to buy The Malls shopping centre from co-owner Key Property Investments (KPI), a joint venture between St. Modwen Properties plc and Salhia Real Estate Company. The council is purchasing the property company's 65 per cent share, and becoming the sole owner of the town's shopping centre.

Henderson Global Investors’ Retail Warehouse Fund has sold its Junction 27 Retail Park in Leeds to The UK Commercial Property Trust for £56.63m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.15 per cent.

The rebound in the UK retail investment market is expected to maintain momentum throughout the first half of 2010 according to latest research from CB Richard Ellis.

Treasury's UK arm, Real Estate Opportunities, has appointed Cushman & Wakefield to secure funding for the redevelopment of London' Battersea Power Station.

Metric Property, the new property company set up by three former British Land directors, has completed its fund raising and beaten its target, raising £175 from investors.

Cordea Savills, the international property fund manager, has acquired the Apex Retail Park in Twickenham for £14.4m on behalf of the Charities Property Fund.

A 28 per cent decline on new shopping centre space across Europe in 2009 brought an end to three consecutive years of development growth, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Thornfield Properties will go into administration this week following the demise of parent company Thornfield Ventures earlier this year.

The recovery in retail property investment markets continued in January, albeit at a more pedestrian rate than the closing months of 2009. IPD data shows capital values for all retail increased by 1.03 per cent in January, the slowest monthly rate of growth since August 2009.

A concept first put forward by The Peel Group, owners of The Trafford Centre, for the regeneration of the North West ship canal corridor has today been taken forward.

Centros has acquired the ailing 1960s-built Tower Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, from UBS.

Liberty International has confirmed that it is to split into two separate quoted companies – Capital Shopping Centres and Capital & Counties.

Metric Property Investments, a specialist retail property investor formed by three ex-British Land directors, is to raise £150m by floating on the London Stock Exchange.

Capital & Regional, asset manager of the Mall Fund, has completed the sale of the St George's Shopping Centre in Preston to Aviva Investors Property Trust for £87m reflecting an initial yield of 7.64 per cent.

Dutch property investor Meyer Bergman has acquired a 50 per cent stake in The Bentall Centre, Kingston-upon-Thames, from Aviva for around £130m.

Herald, Henderson Global Investors’ €900m pan-European retail property fund, has sold the Stanley Green retail park in Wilmslow, Manchester, to PruPIM for £47m reflecting a net initial yield of 5.3 per cent.

Specialist retail investor NewRiver has set up a £250m fund with Morgan Stanley to buy UK retail property, and it has kicked off the business with a £49m portfolio purchase from UBS.

Scarborough Development Group has bought eight Modus Group property companies out of administration for £37m.

Centros has been selected by Anglo Irish Bank to asset manage the 400,000-sq ft Houndshill Shopping Centre in Blackpool.

The Mall fund has sold its Aberdeen Shopping Centre to a client of Rockspring Property Investment Managers for £47.4m reflecting an initial yield of 7.9 per cent.

Woking Borough Council has bought out IM Properties' lease on the 230,000-sq ft Wolsey Place shopping centre in a £68m deal.

Hammerson's UK retail holdings contributed to an improved performance at the Anglo-French REIT. The pre-tax loss for the year ended 31 December 2009 was £453.1m, down from £1,611.5m in 2008.

Standard Life Investments has bought the East Kilbride Retail Park on behalf of Standard Life Investments’ UK Property Fund, for £18.145m reflecting a yield of 6.54 per cent.

Retail is tipped to be the top-performing property sector in the UK, according to a new economic forecast from BNP Paribas Real Estate.

British Land unveiled a strong set of third-quarter results, driven in part by the revival in the out-of-town retail market.

The Crown Estate has continued its push into the shopping centre sector, exchanging contracts with Capital Shopping Centres to buy the Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford

Liberty International, parent company of Capital Shopping Centres and Capital & Counties, has confirmed that it is considering floating the two as separate businesses.

British Land has increased its exposure to the foodstore sector, buying the freehold of a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Macclesfield, Cheshire, for £30.5m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.0 per cent.

St Modwen Investments has exchanged contracts to sell its Catford shopping centre in south-east London to Lewisham Council for £11.52m. A new regeneration body is to be set up to take over the running of the centre.

Almost half the shopping centre investment deals completed in the past five years risk unravelling because the purchasers cannot service their loans, according to new research from DTZ and the BCSC. In all £10.1bn of deals could go bad.

Land Securities and Henderson's plans for a major extension to the Buchanan Galleries centre in Glasgow have moved a step closer with the city council's decision to back an application for Tax Increment Funding to support the project.

Capital Shopping Centres has successfully refinanced its flagship asset, the 1.4m-sq ft Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock. A consortium of seven banks has advanced a new seven-year, £525m loan.