The research highlights that UK occupational overheads for retail property are approximately 20 per cent of turnover and can represent nearly 40 per cent of total costs. This is a significantly higher level than other European countries: for example in Spain shopping centre rents average 10-15 per cent of retailer turnover. The report urges landlords and retailers to work together to better understand the developing link between retail profitability and property values.

Chris Blair, Savills UK head of retail agency, said: “Campaigns for monthly rents, rates phasing and service charge reductions are all initiatives with a sound commercial base, but in practice they are side shows surrounding the bigger issue of assessing sustainable rental levels.

“We must encourage retailers to be more open with their figures to initiate a structural change away from outdated valuation practices. This would be good for retailers in aligning overheads more directly with trading performance, but would also benefit landlords in boosting values for the best properties and preventing tenant insolvencies in cases where rents are too high.”