British Property Federation offers retailers new lifeline

The British Property Federation (BPF) has written to 400 landlords asking them to make every effort to contain their service charges to help struggling retailers and other business tenants.
A letter from Francis Salway, president of the industry body, who is also chief executive of Land Securities, the country's biggest property company, asks property companies and investors to manage costs “as if they were their own”.
Mr Salway tells the landlords: “There is a growing sense of dissatisfaction amongst the customer community, particularly in the retail sector, regarding the level of service charges and the way in which they are managed.
“The issue is one area where we can show that we are very much alert to the concerns of our customers in these challenging economic times.”
Mr Salway suggests that landlords should price-test all contracts, defer non-essential maintenance, review marketing budgets for shopping centres and be transparent over insurance costs to keep their service charges as low as possible for tenants. He adds: “The BPF's effectiveness as a lobbying organisation is dependent partly upon our members showing themselves to be mindful of the needs and concerns of the customers of our industry.”