Mark Allan, CEO of Landsec wrote in yesterday's FT that he is now in the market for shopping centres. 

"Malls are back on the agenda" says Allan and he believes there is now value to be found in the retail sector. 

"Prime shopping centre values are down 60% from the peak, rents are down almost 40%....approaching the level at which we think they are almost sustainable" he said.

Landsec are currently selling offices and looking to invest some of the proceeds into shopping centres.  Allan thinks the "balance of risk and reward " in shopping centre investment has changed and there is now real opportunity in the sector for investors. 

It will be really interesting to see how this sector picks up following easing of lock down and opening up of retail. 

Footfall post easing of lockdown in shopping centres is around 30% down vs 2019 levels, according to a Springboard survey last week. 

We are hearing anecdotally from some investors that retail centres are now "just too cheap to ignore".  Whether that's for retail use or repositioning of town centres will be the interesting play. 

Of course the retail park sector has done well this year with plenty of interest from investors to date and strong yields.