Media & Insights

Landsec announces sale of QAM office for £245m

18 August 2025

Landsec has exchanged contracts for the unconditional sale of its Queen Anne’s Mansions, SW1 (“QAM”) office block to Arora Group for a total cash consideration of £245m, crystallising substantial value via a deal which is immediately accretive to Landsec’s return on equity.

The disposal marks significant early progress on Landsec’s objective to release £2bn of capital from offices by 2030, as part of its strategy to focus its portfolio on assets which can deliver sustainable income and EPS growth over the long term.

QAM was developed by Landsec in the 1970’s and is currently fully let on a lease expiring in December 2028. The majority of the valuation of the asset is linked to its future redevelopment potential, with the balance of value stepping down in line with the receipt of rental income over the remainder of the current lease.

As the sale has been achieved much earlier than planned, the residual finance lease income on QAM which runs until December 2026 will now be received as a capital receipt in 2025 rather than as income across 2025 and 2026. The overall amount of cash generated for Landsec is essentially the same, but this will impact EPRA earnings for FY26 by £7m and for FY27 by £15m, as a broadly equivalent sum will now be received upfront in cash as part of the sale proceeds. EPRA earnings from FY28 onwards are essentially unaffected by the sale, with upside potential as and when proceeds are reinvested in accretive acquisitions.

The unconditional sale, for which Landsec has received a 10% non-refundable deposit, is expected to complete in early December 2025. The £245m sales price compares to an expected book value at that time of £256m, taking into account the receipt of income and commensurate reduction in value since the last valuation date. All else equal, the disposal reduces Landsec’s 38.4% pro-forma March 2025 LTV by 1.3ppt.

Mark Allan, Chief Executive Officer at Landsec said:

“This sale provides strong evidence of the continuing recovery in the central London investment market and allows us to crystallise a full value for this off-strategy asset much sooner than we had envisaged.

Including QAM, overall disposals since 31 March now total c. £500m, which is ahead of our initial expectations and, combined with continued robust operational performance across the business, means we are making encouraging early progress in delivering against our strategy."